Applied Thermodynamics
by 0th Law
Summary: Instead of saving Shirou Emiya, a normal 7-year-old kid that will end up trying to become an Ally of Justice, Kiritsugu ends up saving Ryouko Emiya, a 6-year-old former member of a Magus Family that will end up trying to do SCIENCE! No, this isn't crack, as much as Ryouko would like it to be crack.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Aftermath, Friendship, and Transitions

Fire.

That was all the girl could see as she walked through the rubble: fire, ash, and charcoal. The fire didn't hurt her, for she was able to apply the teachings of her first family. The primary dangers of a fire were the heat and the smoke, and heat was simply motion. The motion of heat could be used to push away the smoke in the air while leaving the oxygen. It was one of the first things she'd learned from her first family; after all, fire safety was important for any magus that dealt heavily in fire. She'd used to have difficulty with the spell, but her first family's crest did most of the heavy lifting now.

Her prana was low: she'd used most of it trying to save her second family, but they'd touched that... black mud, and were consumed despite her best efforts. She didn't know if she had enough power left to keep up the fire protection spell for much longer, but she had to try to survive.

She kept walking through the flames, bypassing the dead and dying. She probably couldn't save both them and herself, and she couldn't save them if she was dead, so she had to protect the one life she knew she could protect: her own.

Her supply of prana ever-dwindling, she kept moving. If nothing else, she was persistent in her desire to live. Who wouldn't be? But mere persistence was not enough to save her from her fate, for when she took her next step, she heard a crack, and a pillar crashed down on her back. It actually didn't hurt too much, the pillar, and the pain of the fall was short-lived. But even so, she was in more pain than she had ever been. More pain than when she saw the workshop accident kill her first family, and still more than when she had failed to save her second. She struggled against the weight on her back, but to no avail. She kept struggling anyway. If she was going to die, if all of her life had amounted to nothing, then she was still going to struggle against it, no matter if it was futile. She persisted in her efforts, but was unable to overcome the crushing weight of the pillar, nor the crushing despair of the fact that she was going to die. Eventually, the rubble and ash buried her form, and she could no longer see any light.

She didn't know how much time passed after that, but it felt like a while, long enough for her prana stores to be depleted and for her to pass out as a result. Then, suddenly, she could breathe again. She opened her eyes. Above her was a man in a black suit and trenchcoat, digging through the rubble. Upon seeing her alive, he began crying, holding her upraised hand to his cheek.

"Thank you." He said, as if from the bottom of his heart. It was as if she wasn't the person who had been saved, but rather him.

_Huh_. She thought, before passing out again.

The next few days passed in a blur. It didn't help that she was only conscious for a quarter of the time, roughly, but she underwent numerous examinations, with the only real damage she'd had from the fire being minor smoke inhalation, to the bafflement of many a doctor. She was put into an in-patient room to rest, alongside a couple other kids in much worse condition than her.

Even though she was supposed to rest, the only thing she felt at the moment was boredom. She _knew_ she was completely fine, so why couldn't she just... go outside? Or something like that, at least. She was practically full of nervous energy, the urgent need to _do_ something, with the only reason that she didn't get up and do something probably quite foolish being the fact that it would probably be quite foolish.

After another couple of _days_ or so (hours actually, but she was a kid), the door was opened. _A visitor?_ She thought, then saw the trenchcoat. _So it's him... Maybe he's here to take me out of this place! That's great!_

She kept her excitement hidden as he approached her bed, channeling the energy into twitching her foot.

"Hello," he said to her, "you must be Ryouko-chan." She nodded in response. "I suppose I'll come right out and ask you which you would prefer: being sent off to an orphanage, or being taken in by a man you just met."

"A man I just met." She said immediately.

His face lit up in relief. "I'm glad. Can you get dressed on your own? Y-"

"I can." She said, unknowingly interrupting him.

He chuckled slightly. "That's good. You'll need to get acclimated to your new home as soon as possible." He gave another nervous laugh. "Oh... I forgot to mention something you should know. I have to tell you an extremely important fact. Ready?" It seemed like he was asking himself that rather than her, so she just nodded. "Yeah, I should do this right now... You see, Ryouko, I am a mage."

"That's fine!" She said. "I am too!" To demonstrate, she opened her mouth, and used the prana in her saliva to generate a small flame, which she quenched after a moment.

Silence.

She looked back at his slightly strained smile. _Did I do something wrong?_ She thought.

"That's... great." He said, sighing. Somehow, he knew that this was only a taste of the madness to come.

"Who are you?" Ryouko asked the woman at the door, looking up from her book. She looked to be in her mid-teens, with shoulder-length brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"I'm Taiga, Fujimura Taiga." The woman now known as Taiga said. "Is your father here?"

Ryouko tilted her head. "...Why?"

"Oh, my grandfather hired him to tutor me in English." Taiga explained.

"Oh, that's nice." Ryouko replied dismissively. "Say, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

"Probably." Answered Taiga. "I helped you and your father move in fully. Remember me?"

"Oh yeah... Now I remember!" She didn't, but decided to just get back to her book.

"So... is your dad here?" Taiga followed up, seeing that the six-year-old wasn't going to answer her first question.

"Oh yeah, right." Ryouko said, then looked in the direction of one of the hallways. "Dad! The person you're tutoring in English is here!"

As she began her lesson with Emiya Kiritsugu, Taiga realized that the girl hadn't actually answered her question.

\===*===/

"Teach me magic."

"No."

"Damnit!"

"Language, Ryouko." Kiritsugu sighed. It had been two years since the grail war, and Ryouko was like Illya had been at her age, when he last saw her, in a similar way to how Taiga reminded him of Shirley. Of course, Ryouko had had a lot of contact with Taiga, to the point that they considered each other to be sisters, and it was times like these that Taiga's... less than stellar influence showed.

"But Nee-chan says it all the time!" Ryouko protested, proving his point. He really shouldn't have taught Taiga profanity in English. "And why won't you teach me magic?"

"Don't you already know magic?" Kiritsugu asked. "If not, what have you been doing in the shed every weekend?"

Ryouko's eyes drifted off to the side, as if remembering something. Kiritsugu recalled the rather visible scorch marks, fissures, and blown-aside items he'd found inside the stone shed Ryouko was using as her workshop, and he supposed Ryouko was recalling the source of those... damages.

She rallied. "I... do... but it's not working well enough! I want to become better, I want to become stronger."

"Do you _need_ to become stronger?" Kiritsugu countered. "How would you use your strength, if you were to gain it?"

"Er..." Ryouko was at a loss. "I haven't actually thought that far ahead, but... I guess protect my friends and family from weird magus shi-stuff?" He _really _needed to wash that mouth of hers. And Taiga's, for that matter.

"In other words, you would protect Taiga and me." Kiritsugu pointed out.

"Nah." Ryouko said. "You're a magus, so you can protect yourself, which means I would just protect Taiga."

"So you really don't have friends..." Kiritsugu said under his breath, then made his proposal in a reasonable voice. "How about this: you make some more friends, and I'll teach you magic."

"What? No!" Ryouko said. "That's so unfair, Dad!"

"How is it unfair?" Kiritsugu silently thanked the heavens that he'd learned patience from Illya.

"It just is!" Ryouko insisted. "Other people are boring!"

"How would you know that without befriending them?"

"..." Ryouko was yet again at a loss. "They just are, okay!"

"When you realize you can't argue a point, you say that it 'just is.' You know that, right?" Kiritsugu asked calmly.

Ryouko looked to the side ruefully. "Maybe..."

"And you also realize that it doesn't prove anything, right?" Kiritsugu pressed further. She was a smart girl, despite her childishness. She'd see reason. Eventually, anyway.

"Yeah..." Ryouko answered.

"So what do you say?" Kiritsugu said. "Want to try to make friends at school?"

Ryouko breathed in, then exhaled. "Okay." She said, a determined look on her face.

"That's good." Kiritsugu smiled, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Just make sure they aren't imaginary this time."  
Ryouko pouted. "That was one time, Dad!"

The bell for lunch rang, and Ryouko looked around at her classmates, trying to decide who to try to befriend, She didn't think she'd succeed, but it was worth a shot. There were a couple people she was going to approach, but it looked like they were all in their own cliques already. She noticed some people who were alone, but those were _boys_, and she obviously couldn't be friends with a boy because... reasons.

Eventually, she spotted a girl sitting in an unclaimed corner of the cafeteria. Her eyes and hair were both purple, and she was picking at her meal disinterestedly. _Er... perfect!_ Ryouko thought. _A random person! I'll befriend her!_

She walked to the girl and sat next to her, unwrapping her bento. The girl looked at Ryouko curiously, but said nothing. It was up to Ryouko to start a conversation.

"Hi!" Ryouko said, channeling her unease into cheer. "I'm Emiya Ryouko. What's your name?"

"Ah... Matou." The girl uttered, surprised. "Matou Sakura."

"Nice to meet you! I-" Ryouko began, but cut herself off as she remembered that she'd already introduced herself.

Sakura began picking at her meal again.

"So... Sakura-chan..." Ryouko said, then trailed off. _Damnit! What to say now? Er..._ "What type of books do you like to read for fun?"

Sakura swallowed her bite. "I don't read for fun."

"Oh... I see..." Ryouko rubbed her head in embarrassment. "So... do you like to watch TV?"

"Not really." Sakura responded.

"Then..." Ryouko racked her brain for ideas. "Movies? Music? Drawing? Er... TV? Wait no, I already said that..." But Sakura was just shaking her head. "You're not much one for conversation, are you?" Ryouko accused.

Sakura looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry." She said despairingly.

Ryouko was taken aback. _No! I made her sad... How do I fix this?_ Her mind was working a mile a minute, but going absolutely nowhere. She grabbed ahold of the first idea she had, the moment it came to her.

She threw her arms around Sakura, eliciting a small yelp of surprise from the girl, but she didn't pull away. Some idle part of Ryouko's mind noted that the other girl actually smelled kinda nice... but she paid it no mind. Totally.

"W-what are you doing?" Sakura stammered out.

"I'm hugging you." Ryouko said, embarrassed. "You were looking sad, so I hugged you."

"Okay." Sakura said. Ryouko took that as permission to continue hugging the other girl... at least until it became awkward. She pulled back. Thankfully, she'd thought of an actual plan. Hopefully, she could befriend this girl and make her life less... obviously bland.

"So, I have an idea." Rouko said. "Would you be interested in reading books, watching TV, watching movies, or what have you?"

Sakura tilted her head in thought. "I think I would." She said eventually.

Ryouko smiled slightly, despite absolutely _beaming_ inside. "Okay. So,would you be able to come over to my house after school today? I could show you some good books and shows and things."

Sakura's hand drifted to the ribbon in her hair, which she started idly twirling. "I... would have to ask Grandfather first, so probably not today..."

"But maybe tomorrow, right?" Ryouko finished.

"Yes." Sakura nodded.

Ryouko smiled brightly. "Perfect!" She hugged Sakura again, causing yet another small squeak, before the two of them went on to actually eat their meals.

The next day, when Sakura came over to the Emiya household, she was briefly held up by Kiritsugu and Taiga, before Ryouko was able to drag her into the living room, where they could watch her _meticulously _selected shows. At one of the funnier scenes, Sakura giggled slightly, smiling. Ryouko felt a surge of pride at the smile that she'd helped cause, and silently promised that she would see the other girl smile again many more times in the future.

\===*===/

"So what seems to be the trouble?" Kiritsugu asked, leaning against the wall of the shed as his daughter began to go inside for her magecraft practice.

"Huh?" Ryouko said, confused.

Kiritsugu sighed. _Did she really forget about that deal so quickly?_ He then spoke aloud. "You wanted my help with magecraft, remember?"

Ryouko paused, then her eyes widened in recognition. "Right..." She said when she recalled the original reason she'd made her first actual friend. "Right, right. Come in, and I'll show you." She strode into the workshop, putting on an unnecessarily businesslike air, folding her hands behind her back and turning up her chin.

Kiritsugu followed her in, and looked upon the spacious shed. It was much as he had last seen it, with a couple tool shelves shoved to one of the corners while the rest of the floor space bore remnants of blown around screws, scorch marks, and fissures. There was but one bounded field around the structure, that being the one he put up to make sure excess prana didn't escape and tip off anybody from the Church or the Association. "I'm assuming you primarily use elemental magecraft?" He remarked.

"Yes, that is correct, my good sir." Ryouko said in an intimated british accent, businesslike stance mutating into a vaguely high class demeanor. "My elements are Air, Earth, and Fire, though the primary focus of my family's magecraft is the last one. The main roadblock I am dealing with, in this instance, is the amount of prana I need to expend in order to achieve appreciable affects... You may want to step back." As Kiritsugu did as he was told, Ryouko closed her eyes, and said a chant. "_Begin Extrusion of Fuel Sources... Plot Projected Orbital Pathways... Ignition._" Upon completion, 16 small orbs of pure white flame appeared around her. Arranged in a circle, each was roughly 10 centimeters in diameter, floating about half a meter away from Ryouko. She waved her hand, and they began circling her at a moderate speed. She opened her eyes.

Kiritsugu clapped slightly in applause. "Impressive." He said.

Ryouko shook her head. "Each of these fires is too expensive, energy consuming. My first family was focused on creating a single, greater, perfect fire, so their teachings did not have that much in the way of normal, efficient fires."

"So, in other words, you want to be able to make more fire with a reduced prana draw." Kiritsugu clarified.

Ryouko nodded.

"Why do you even want to be able to make more fire in the first place?" He asked.

"Because it's fire!" Ryouko exclaimed. "Fire is cool!"

Kiritsugu rested his forehead on his fingertips, sighing. "What about burning things?" He suggested, going against his better judgement.

"What, like wood?" She asked.

"Yes, like wood." He confirmed.

"Hm... That would work..." Ryouko mused. "Actually, why exactly _does_ wood burn?"

"Fire needs three things, Ryouko." Kiritsugu explained. "Oxygen, heat, and fuel. Wood is a fuel."

"Yes but _why_ is it a fuel?"

"I... do not know the answer to that." He said.

"Aw..." Ryouko said, disappointed.

"However, I do know where you could find the answer." Kiritsugu said.

"Really?" Ryouko perked right back up.

"Yes." Kiritsugu said. "Let's go to the library."

And that is how Ryouko discovered chemistry.

From that day, and through the next three years, Kiritsugu began to take a more active role in the development of his daughter's magecraft, supervising her training, research, and development to make sure she didn't do anything too dangerous, such as that one time she tried to superheat a rock in order to make lava, or when she tried to expand the shed by blowing up the floor... or when she tried to use explosions to propel her jumps. Really, there were just far too many explosions going off in Ryouko's general vicinity for her to _not_ need close supervision. He actually did end up approving an expansion of the shed, but done with safer, less explosive magecraft.

He also taught her how to undermine bounded fields, how to create Mystic Codes, and, most importantly to him, how to use healing magecraft. He knew he wouldn't last forever, and he was fairly certain that once he was gone, Ryouko's curiosity would overcome any modicum of common sense she had and she'd pull something stupid enough to require a large amount of healing, despite the questions it may raise. Even so, because that was probably going to happen _anyway_, he had to also teach her hypnosis.

On the topic of things Kiritsugu taught Ryouko, he had began to teach her English, with more than a little help from Taiga. As a consequence of the arrangement Taiga and Kiritsugu already had, the Emiya household spoke almost entirely in English while Sakura wasn't visiting. Ryouko had gotten even closer to the Matou girl than she already was. Kiritsugu would have been concerned about the family, but the Matou magus lineage had died out, and even if Sakura had any magic, Kiritsugu had not seen any signs for three years that she possessed the capacity to perform magecraft, even the usage of prana. That said, he did not inform Ryouko of the true nature of the Matou, as he wanted to minimize the chances of her carelessly revealing the existence of magic to a person who had nothing to do with the Moonlit World.

"You wanted to talk?" Ryouko, now eleven, asked her dad. It was late, and she had changed into her pajamas, while Kiritsugu, as always, was wearing his kimono. Ryouko didn't know why he had changed his style so drastically from when she'd first met him, but it made him look like an old man, an effect accentuated by the premature wrinkles around his eyes.

"Yes." Kiritsugu said. "Sit down." He patted the spot beside him on the ledge overlooking the courtyard. Ryouko obediently plopped down.

"So... what is this about?" She asked.

No response.

Ryouko looked closer, and her dad's eyes were shut. "Hey, dad, if you're going to sleep, you should lie down." She said.

His eyes opened. "Right, sorry. You see, Ryouko, I have something to give you."

There was a pause, before Ryouko realized that she probably should respond. "What is it?" In another context, she probably would be falling over herself, trying to guess what he wanted to give her, but this situation felt too... solemn for that sort of behavior.

Kiritsugu placed his hands on either side of his gut, and golden lights began to drift from his body to the space in between them, coalescing into a... what looked like a scabbard, yet it appeared to be designed for a sword of much odder dimensions than she had ever seen. It was a beautiful item, though, inlaid with gold, and built around a frame of the most exquisite white stone. It radiated a feeling of peace and, to Ryouko's prana sense, it resounded with power and conceptual weight. When it was fully extruded, it remained floating in midair, until Kiritsugu grasped it in his hands.

"This is Avalon." Kiritsugu said. "The scabbard of King Arthur herself." He proffered it to Ryouko, who unconsciously took it, stunned.

Ryouko's eyes widened as she looked at the scabbard, then at her dad, then the scabbard, then her dad. Eventually, she settled on her dad. "I have several questions." She stated.

He smiled slightly. "I'm sure you do. Ask away."

"First: King Arthur _herself_?" She was fairly certain that King Arthur, if he had even existed, was male.

"Yeah. King Arthur was a girl." Kiritsugu said, rubbing the back of his head. "It surprised me too."

"_How do you even _know_ that!?_" Ryouko exclaimed.

Kiritsugu sighed. He'd hoped that this line of inquiry wouldn't come up, but knowing both Ryouko and his luck, it obviously had to come first. "We were allies, after a fashion. There is a ritual that once was conducted in Fuyuki every sixty years: the Holy Grail War, in which seven magi would each summon a Heroic Spirit in order to fight and compete for the Holy Grail, which would supposedly grant the victor one wish. I summoned her and, five years ago, fought in the Fourth Holy Grail War."

Ryouko was now listening intently, ignoring the legendary sheath. "Did you win? What was your wish?"

Kiritsugu leaned forward and looked down. "I wanted to save the world, to create a world where nobody would ever cry again. It... didn't really work out."

"Oh." Ryouko's face fell, and she desperately tried to think of a different topic. "Um... How did you get Avalon, then?"

"It was given to me by the Einzbern family, in Germany, so that I could summon King Arthur and fight in the war on their behalf." Kiritsugu didn't look up.

"Huh." Ryouko remarked. "So you were visiting them all those times you went abroad."

"No. I came back empty-handed, so they did not accept me back." Kiritsugu said. When Ryouko looked more closely at his face, she could see that he was crying.

"What's wrong?" She asked urgently, reach up to put her hand on his shoulder.

Kiritsugu looked up at her. "It's... it's nothing. Nothing you should concern yourself with."

Ryouko, clearly was not satisfied with that answer. She stood up on the step, forcibly turned Kiritsugu in her direction as she put both hands on his shoulders. "You _will_ tell me what's wrong." She said forcefully.

"...Okay." Kiritsugu said finally. "You see... you aren't my first daughter. You have an older sister, Illyasviel von Einzbern. Because her family never let me past the bounded fields, I... never saw her again. She would be thirteen, now." Tears were now flowing freely.

Ryouko had no idea what to say, what to do to make her dad feel better, so she simply held him as he cried himself to sleep. After that, she brought out a futon and painstakingly transferred him onto the mat, tucking him in. Once she stored Avalon in her workshop, she went to sleep herself, with the resolve that the next morning, she would speak to her dad about saving her sister.

The next day, however, Kiritsugu was dead. That made it two more people she had failed to save.

She would never let go of those she loved again.


	2. Day 1

Day 1: Signs, Into the Sunset

"Ryouko. Ryouko!"

The girl in question awoke to the feeling of being shaken. Her eyes fluttering open, she saw a blurred face above her, outlined by what she assumed to be purple hair. "Oh, hi Sakura. Just a couple more minutes, then I'll join you for breakfast." With that she closed her eyes once again. She had a _really_ comfortable pillow.

"Oh, that's a shame." Sakura said, knowing Ryouko hadn't fully gone back to sleep. "Because it isn't breakfast time. It's actually right after the club practice. You slept through school, and if you don't get up soon, you'll be late for your practical."

"The practical can... wait..." Ryouko's eyes shot open. She sat upward, almost headbutting her... Friend? Close Friend? Best Friend? Pseudo-Sister? Whichever. Anyway, she sat up, almost headbutting Sakura, and looked at the other girl in shock. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP!?" She exclaimed.

Sakura remained completely composed. "I tried, but you didn't respond at all. I would've gotten Fujimura-sensei to help, but she'd already left. Eventually, I realized that I would be late for archery, so I left."

"...Shit." Ryouko said, then she ran to her wardrobe in order to begin changing, until she realized Sakura was still there. She turned around to ask Sakura to leave while she changed, and saw the other girl's grin. A quick glance at the alarm clock confirmed it. It was only 6:00 AM.

Ryouko afixed Sakura with a flat look, causing the other girl to giggle.

"I'm not even mad." Ryouko said, shaking her head while grinning helplessly. "Not even mad." She then realized her state of dress. "Um... can you..."

Sakura blushed. "Right. Of course." With that, she left.

_Well, _that_ was certainly an effective wake-up._ Ryouko thought as she put on her school uniform. It certainly would've been shocking if she missed the practical examination for her motorcycle license, which just happened to be today. Fujimura Raiga, or "Grandfather," as he wanted her to call him (not that she ever would), had given her one for her sixteenth birthday, after she'd expressed an interest in getting one while fixing up his constantly broken motorcycle. Naturally, that meant that she not only had to get a license for it, but also that she needed to... enhance it with her magecraft. She'd modified it to work with her "Merlin Gas" as fuel, recalibrated the accelerator, increased the durability, and really just improved the performance the best she could. The problem with all the investment, of course, was that she couldn't actually use it at the moment.

She finished getting dressed, and walked into the kitchen. Thankfully, Fuji-nee wasn't here, otherwise she'd tear into Ryouko about meaningless things like "getting up on time" and "making sure Sakura didn't do all the cooking, because Ryouko is the owner of this house." Ryouko's main objection with that last one was that she technically didn't own the house - Raiga did - and while she realized that was mostly semantics, semantics were the best part about debates.

Speaking of food; however, Sakura was doing the cooking today, as was expected. Ryouko only did it when she woke up before Sakura arrived: the other girl actually enjoyed cooking as an art, rather than simply a means to acquire food to eat. Really, the only reason she still made breakfast those rare times when Sakura got to the Emiya household later than Ryouko's awakening was because she still felt slightly guilty about having the other girl do all the cooking. That said, she had gotten into the habit of sleeping in because only Sakura made actually good food. Looking on the cook herself, Ryouko noticed the practiced ease and grace the other girl moved with when making breakfast. Frankly, she thought it was beau-

_And let's cut off _that_ train of thought_. Ryouko thought. _I've known her for eight years. We're practically sisters! That'd just be weird._

Turning, Sakura saw Ryouko standing in the threshold of the kitchen, staring. "Um... Ryouko, how long have you been standing there?" She asked.

_Er..._ "An amount of time that does not bear mentioning." Ryouko answered evasively. "Do you need any help?"

"Not at all." Sakura said. "This is your house, so you should be able to relax while I make our meals."

Ryouko tilted her head to the side, confused. "I... don't think that logic really works out. Like... you're technically a guest, right? So logically I should be serving you."

"And doing nothing is the best way you can serve me." Sakura responded, not missing a beat. "I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy eating food that is made in a less... amateurish manner. Besides, I can't have a nice meal anywhere else now, so at least let me have this."

"Huh... Okay then." Ryouko sat down at the table. "Wait... so if we ate out together at a restaurant, it wouldn't be pleasant?" She teased.

Giggling, Sakura brought the dishes to the table. "I wouldn't necessarily say that. After all, we haven't eaten out together."

Ryouko grinned. "That can be remedied. When are you available?"

"Don't you already... know..." Sakura's laughter was cut off when she glanced at the back of Ryouko's hand, her mirthful expression transforming into one of shock.

"What, is there something on my face?" Ryouko asked, not reading the mood at all.

"No... Ryouko, your hand." Sakura said. "How did that get there?"

Ryouko looked at the hand in question, and saw what looked like a _really_ angry rash, the flesh turning crimson instead of light red. "I... have no idea. I don't _think_ I've come into contact with any allergens recently. Heck, I don't think I even have allergies..." She trailed off, considering the possibilities. _I can discount allergies for now, which leaves disease, extreme environmental conditions, or some other medical condition that I didn't know I had before. Considering the fact that the last possibility would be most likely noticed earlier, it can also be discounted. I would also remember extreme environmental conditions, which leaves disease. Despite that, I need to actually make sure that it's none of the others, which would all probably be more... acute. If it fades within... 2 days, I'll say it's nothing significant. If it doesn't... well, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it._ "In short, the best option for now is to just do nothing." Ryouko finished aloud, looking up to see Sakura still frozen in the same position she'd been in when she noticed the rash. "Are you okay? You haven't touched breakfast."

"Ah, yes... I'm fine." Sakura said. "I'm actually not... that hungry." Ryouko didn't buy that for a second, but let it slide. She'd press further later - after she had actually eaten.

The sound of the front door opening and shutting with... more than enough force echoed through the kitchen. Ryouko flinched. That could only mean one thing: The Tiger of Fuyuki was here. With that, immediate thoughts about potential troubles were swept aside by the herculean task of making sure everything stayed moderately sane.

\==*==/

Ryouko let her breath out, quelled the disquiet in her mind, and became one with the arrow, with the target. She released the bowstring, and watched as the projectile soared to the target, striking it.

Lowering her bow, Ryouko inhaled and removed herself from the meditative state. The arrow she had fired struck in the 7-Point range. Not her best, but also not her worst. At least she was better than when she'd started. Ryouko and Sakura had been roped into the Archery club by Fuji-nee on their very first day at Homurahara, and over the past year, they'd improved until they were distinctly in the "Good, but not amazing" category.

Once Ryouko retrieved her arrows, she walked to the wall and sat by Sakura. The other girl was sitting out of practice today: she had been too distracted by whatever was on her mind to even maintain the correct stance, she still had attempted to shoot at first, despite the warnings of Ryouko, Fuji-nee, and even Mitsuzuri.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ryouko asked.

Sakura sighed. "I'm just... concerned, that's all."

"I already told you, it's probably nothing." Ryouko said. "You don't need to worry."

"I know that, but..." Sakura pulled her legs closer to her, and rested her head on her knees, looking at Ryouko. "I still worry about you sometimes. Just... be careful, okay?"

Ryouko blushed, but rallied. "I'm always careful!"

Sakura gave Ryouko a flat look. "No, you aren't."

Ryouko sighed and smiled helplessly, but her attention was pulled away when she heard loud, obnoxious laughter from the range. She looked over at the source, and saw a 1st year, one of the less proficient ones, struggling to hit the target, while Matou Shinji was mocking him. The kid's fingers were white on his bow.

_Shinji._ Ryouko thought with disgust. He was practically the incarnation of everything she could hate about a person. Pompous, arrogant, loud, and stuck-up, he acted like a jerk to nearly everyone except the girls he was pursuing, who only liked him for his wealth and his "good looks." Ryouko didn't get that. the only quality she could assign to his appearance was "very punchable face." Still, he had good grades, but as far as Ryouko was concerned, that made it so that rather than being a goon and thus having an excuse, he was just a piece of shit. Interestingly enough, her open disapproval and belligerent attitude towards the anthropomorphic turd was taken by the wider school community as her actually being interested in him. Ryouko would've been more annoyed by that, but she'd long since given up on convincing the general populace of anything... or interacting with them at all in any significant way. She'd only heard about that particular rumor from Fuji-nee, after all.

Ryouko looked around for Mitsuzuri Ayako, the only person in the room who would be able to resolve this cleanly by pulling rank. As was fitting, the Captain wasn't there at the time.

_Great._ Ryouko thought bitterly. _Looks like I'll have to just do it myself._

She stood up abruptly, surprising Sakura as she marched over to the scene. Recalling the school's idol, a Senpai she'd seen tear into Shinji numerous times, Ryouko channeled her inner Tohsaka Rin as she spoke. "Well, if it isn't Matou Shinji. Picking on beginners again? Really, it's rather unbecoming for the Vice Captain of the archery team." She circled the blue-haired prick until she was between him and the person he was picking on.

"Ah, Emiya." Shinji sneered. "You're going to have to speak up. If I heard you correctly, you just insulted the Vice Captain, and when I was doing my best to help this beginner learn, no less."

"Is it an insult if it's true?" Ryouko asked rhetorically, smirking. "Besides, you weren't helping him, although I can see why you would believe you were helping him. You strike me as a person who learns best from a fist to the face. I'm sorry to break it to you, but not everyone is like you in that regard." Behind her, the kid who was being mocked quickly retreated, seeing as he was no longer being focused on.

Shinji glowered. "I'll enjoy wiping that grin off your face, Emiya."

Ryouko's smile only deepened. "I'd like to see you try, Matou."

Shinji's retort was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Ryouko looked in that direction and saw Ayako, who seemed to have finished... whatever she'd been doing.

"Matou-san, Emiya-san, what have I said about fighting in the clubroom?" The captain asked pointedly.

"We weren't fighting, Mitsuzuri." Shinji denied.

"Nah, we were totally fighting." Ryouko cheerfully confirmed. "I was actually about to suggest knives at sundown!"

Ayako looked at Ryouko, bemused. She blinked. "...Okay... Just, don't do that sort of thing here, okay?"

"Of course." Ryouko bowed extravagantly.

Shinji, on the other hand, nodded absentmindedly. Ryouko didn't know what was on his mind, though, and she didn't bother finding out, even as the school day came and went.

\==*==/

Ryouko skipped down the moonlit street, triumphant (she was actually walking with her motorcycle, but there was a spring in her step, so it counted). She had passed the practical, and gotten her first driver's license! The instructor hadn't wanted to pass her at first, saying her personality was "not fit for Japan's roads, to the point that her mere presence would cause chaos to erupt on the streets," whatever that meant, but once she informed him that hers were not the droids he was looking for, and that he _was_ going to pass her, he agreed. A little hypnosis went a _long_ way. Regardless of whether or not her license was deserved, after years (months) of training, Ryouko felt it was time to celebrate.

Walking down the road home, she saw a little girl standing atop an incline. She was dressed in all purple, which contrasted very well with her pale skin, white hair, and red eyes. Ryouko suspected this girl had some form of albinism, due to both the physical features and the late hour she was active at: it would make sense to reduce sun exposure when you're very sensitive to it, as was the case with albinos. As all these rather pointless thoughts and inferences flowed through Ryouki's mind, the little girl walked in her direction.

"If you don't summon it soon, you're going to die, Onee-chan." The little girl said as she passed Ryouko, causing the older girl to whirl around in shock.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Ryouko said, confused. However, the girl had continued on her path. Ryouko turned around and caught up to the little girl. Worst case scenario, this was the Second Owner or something, here to evict Ryouko or sic the Mage's Association on her or something. Hopefully, that wasn't the case. Ideally, this kid was just that: a random kid out at night for... some reason, saying threatening things for... some reason. No, there really were no good options. Seriously, it was nearing midnight.

Ryouko turned to the girl. "Hi, Oujo-chan. Can you explain what you meant by that statement earlier?"

"Hm?" The girl looked at Ryouko, making a questioning sound. "What statement?" The kid smiled innocently, obviously feigning a lack of knowledge.

Ryouko didn't fall for it. "Y'know. You said that if I didn't summon 'it' soon, I was going to die. What did you mean by that?"

The little girl rested a finger on her chin, tilting her head as if in thought. "No, I don't think I said anything like that. Are you sure you weren't just imagining things, Onee-chan?"

Ryouko bit her lip. While she was mostly sure that this kid had said something threatening, she technically didn't _know_ that, and it was theoretically possible that she had just imagined whatever that was. Even so, she couldn't really press the issue further. That left the other concerning thing about this girl.

"Okay, that is fair. I might have been imagining whatever I thought you said." Ryouko relented. "However, there is still a matter yet unaddressed. These streets are no place for any little girl, even if Fuyuko is mostly safe. What are you doing, out at this hour?"

The young kid looked confused, and maybe a bit saddened. "I... I was just out, playing. Isn't that what normal kids do?"

"Maybe. but not usually at this hour. Let's get you home, ok? Your parents must be worried sick."

"Don't have any." The girl corrected Ryouko flatly, yet with a measure of sadness.

"Oh." Ryouko said as she took in this new information. She then knelt down and held the girl's shoulders. "I know what it's like to lose a parent. Don't worry though, it gets better. Trust me on that, okay? It's going to get better. Promise." She said solemnly, and gave the girl a quick hug, before pulling back and giving the girl a confident smile. The kid just stared back at her, confused.

"Anyway, do you have people to take care of you?" Ryouko asked, getting a nod in response. "Good. Do you know where to find them?" The girl nodded again. "That's good. Say, do you want me to help you get there?" The girl shook her head. "Why?"

"I can get there myself..." The kid muttered.

"I don't doubt that." Ryouko said. "But you never know who might be lurking in the shadows of this city. There are dangerous people out there, y'know."

"I'm capable of defending myself." The girl claimed. "I don't protection. Besides, there aren't going to be very many dangerous people in the forest outside town."

"Well..." Ryouko considered this. "If your house is there... then I can walk you through the city, and we can split up at the forest. Does that sound good?"

"Yes." The girl murmured her assent. Following the... negotiations, the two of them didn't really speak that much. The young kid seemed to have a lot on her mind, and Ryouko thought that her usual routine would be... unwelcome. Once they reached the city limits, they parted ways, with the girl walking deeper into the forest, and Ryouko going home.

\==*==/

Ryouko walked in the direction of the Matou household to check on Sakura. As a consequence of afternoon archery practice, the practical exam for her motorcycle license, and walking that girl to the forest, she had only been able to get home at midnight, long after Sakura and Fuji-nee had left. Sakura had been kind enough to keep Fuji-nee from eating all the food, so Ryouko had been able to fix up leftovers to eat. She would've liked to have it fresh, but what can you do?

When she arrived at the Matou Manor, she only saw one light on: the one in Sakura's room. Ryouko supposed that the seaweed-haired prick was off with one of his girlfriends, which would explain his absence.

Ryouko heard something. It sounded like... insects chirping? That didn't make sense: it was still winter. She began to feel distinctly uneasy. There was not just that unseasonal sound. When she listened closely, Ryouko was able to hear a... squelching sound?

"Excuse me. Do you need something?" Said an unfamiliar voice. Ryouko turned to the source, and saw an old man, dressed in a kimono and carrying a walking stick. He was completely bald, and his face was covered in hard lines, as if he had spent his entire life scowling. Still, despite his appearance, he carried himself with a dignity that, when coupled with his sharp eyes, made him feel... powerful.

"What is wrong, young one, why don't you answer? If you don't answer, I shall jump to conclusions. Hmm, so, can I assume you're the stranger Sakura was talking about?" The old man said, while Ryouko was still considering him in her mind. "Geez. Since it is my granddaughter's wish, I can't just let you go. I'm sorry, but I will have to hurt you a bit. Just to be sure, you don't intend to hand yourself over to the police graciously?" He continued before Ryouko had a chance to explain herself.

_Granddaughter? Then that means this is Sakura's grandfather._ Ryouko considered. _She... has mentioned a grandfather before, I think. I guess I just forgot._ She then spoke up. "Um... n-no, I'm actually Sakura's friend, Emiya Ryouko. I just came along in order to check on her. She's home, right?"

"Zouken." The man said out of the blue.

"Huh?" Ryouko had no idea what he meant by that. She wasn't even sure if that was a _word_.

"Matou Zouken. You named yourself, so it is only right for me to do so." He then turned around and walked back to his house, leaving Ryouko standing there awkwardly.

_...Okay then._ She thought. "Um... I guess I'll just -" She was cut off by Zouken turning back to her.

"Sakura is home." He said. "More importantly, Emiya Ryouko, is the daughter of the Einzberns doing well?"

Ryouko's eyes widened in shock as she snapped into readiness. "What do you know about that!?" She demanded.

Zouken smiled slightly. "It is natural for the daughter of the Einzberns to go see Emiya. I am asking how well it went this time around."

Ryouko was too stunned to respond.

The old man's grin widened creepily. "I'll leave you to think about that." With that, he returned to his house with light footsteps that did not seem fitting for a man of his age.

Ryouko got her thoughts under control. _...Okay. So, he mentioned the "Daughter of the Einzberns." The Einzberns are the family that Dad fought on behalf of, and so their daughter is... most likely Illyasviel... Although it could refer to any female person from the Einzberns. The only person that I've met recently that could be the daughter he mentioned is... that little girl. But when I was eleven, Dad said that Illyasviel would be 13, meaning that this girl was not Illya, simply due to her age. But why now? Why is she here? _Ryouko recalled the first thing the girl had told her. _Summon. Dad mentioned that he had _summoned_ King Arthur to fight in the Holy Grail War. _She felt a sinking sensation in her chest. ..._Shit._

She ran at top speed to her house. The Holy Grail War was beginning, and she needed to make sure that neither she, nor anyone she loved, got caught in the crossfire.

\==*==/

When Ryouko arrived at her house, she saw a certain blue-haired pest standing between her and the entrance. She grit her teeth. What was _he_ doing here!?

"Ah, Emiya," Shinji began, "I was wondering when you would show up. I wouldn't want to miss our... _arrangement_."

"What are you talking about!?" Ryouko shouted angrily, paying no attention to the odd slithering noise she began to hear.

"Ah, you don't remember?" The bastard smiled. "And here I was, so excited for 'Knives at sunset.'"

"Yeah, well." Ryouko fumed. "It's far past sunset, and you don't have any knives. So there. Leave before I find one and stick it in you."

"Oh, I'm hurt." He said melodramatically. "I was really hoping for some action, so much so that I even brought a friend." With that, a tall woman in a blindfold and a really impractical... garment appeared out of thin air. Her pink hair was insanely long, and she carried a pair of daggers attached to long chains. "Meet my Servant, Rider. She has enough knives on her to make it really 'Knives at sunset.'"

"It still isn't sunset!" Ryouko protested impotently.

Shinji made a show of thinking about that statement. "True. Let's hope you can survive till then, shall we? Rider, you know what to do." The woman began stalking towards Ryouko, radiating Prana in small waves.

Ryouko assessed the situation. _Okay, I'm assuming this 'Rider' is like King Arthur: a Heroic Spirit summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War. I most likely do not stand a chance against her. At least, not without my Mystic Codes, meaning in order to survive, I need to get to my workshop as quickly as possible. In order to do that..._

Ryouko began to chant. "_Heat, become motion... Howl, wind!_" She used what heat energy there was in the air to cause a torrent of freezing wind to hurtle towards "Rider," with the intention of knocking her back. Additionally, the sheet temperature and pressure...

Rider dashed through the blast as if it was just normal air, with the spell disappearing upon contact with the woman. Ryouko just barely had enough time to curse mentally before she threw herself into the wall, avoiding the woman's dagger. But it wasn't enough. The weighted end of the chain came flying towards Ryouko, who instinctively caught the ring.

That was her first mistake, as she was then pulled along with the chain, dragging her off her feet and over the ground, with a course that would lead her to being slammed into her house's wall. Thinking quickly, she rotated herself so that it would be her feet that hit the wall, and cast another spell, using the motion of the chain-whip to push herself upwards, clearing the barrier. She let go, and cast another spell to absorb the force of her impact.

When she landed in her house's courtyard, she began to run towards her workshop, but then the alarm Bounded Field around the house sounded. She turned around to see a black blur hurtling towards her. Rider.

Ryouko dodged the initial strike, but failed to avoid Rider's kick, which sent her flying back with more force than a normal human could ever muster. She quickly translated her motion into heat energy, shooting a blast of fire at Rider, which, again, did absolutely nothing.

Aside from making sure that she didn't turn into a human pancake, that is.

Ryouko landed on the wall, and kicked off above Rider, just narrowly dodging the chains. She rolled into her landing and bolted to her workshop. Just as she crossed the threshold, she felt a hand close around her neck, applying enough pressure to make breathing difficult. She tried to pry herself free, but to no avail. She felt herself being lifted up by her assailant, even as her alarm rang again, signalling Shinji's entrance.

"Well, Emiya, I am impressed." Shinji said, as Ryouko was turned around to look at his smug, punchable face. "I didn't expect you to be a mage, of all things. Still, you didn't defeat Rider, so it really just means that I got even luckier."

She thought of shooting a fireball at him, but that would be a terrible idea. If she tried anything, Rider could probably snap her neck in an instant. So instead, she opted to humor him. "And... how does that... make you... lucky?" Ryouko rasped out.

His smile grew even wider. "It's quite simple, really. You're going to give Rider your blood so she can become even stronger. Since you're a mage, you'll give us much more power than a normal human could."

"Yeah... well you have... a very... stupid face... Matou." Ryouko eked out. Strange, her insults tended to be much more biting. She guessed that the lowered oxygen levels were getting to her.

Shinji sighed. "Rider? Do it."

Ryouko felt the hand on her neck move to her mouth, as Rider held Ryouko's body up with her other hand. She felt her neck get punctured, and pain exploded from there. She closed her eyes tightly, flailing about in a useless attempt to free herself. She remembered Avalon, and how Kiritsugu had said that he had used it to summon King Arthur. She desperately called out in her mind for someone, anyone to save her. She felt a sharp, yet comparatively minor pain in her left hand. The same hand that'd had the rash.

The worst of the pain suddenly faded, as Ryouko felt herself drop to the ground. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a girl in a white dress, holding an ornate-looking sword.


	3. Day 2

Day 2: Explanations and Fusterclucks

Ryouko blinked her eyes open, rubbing the sleep out of them. Feeling the surface beneath her, it seemed she'd been lying on her futon. If that was true... then the events of last night must have been a dream... _But when did the dream begin?_ She wondered. _Hm... so I passed the practical, walked that girl to her house, went home... ah. I must have went to sleep after eating dinner._

She turned her head to the side, checking her clock. It was only four in the morning. _Well, that's fine. I'll just go back to sleep._ She began to nuzzle back into the pillow, intent on forgetting that dream.

"Ah, Master! You're awake!" Called an unfamiliar voice, causing a spark of indignation in Ryouko. Seriously, why was Ryouko meeting so many new people recently? It was like she didn't know anyone in Fuyuki. While true, she still denied the fact. She had to at least _pretend_[/i] that she cared for Civilian A or Random Student B.

Sighing, she sat up to take a look at this newcomer. She looked strangely familiar, reminding Ryouko of the person she'd seen at the end of her dream. Her blond hair framed a cheerful, girlish face with innocent green eyes. She was clad in an armored white dress with black accents, and at her hip was an extravagant blue and gold scabbard which held a sword, most likely the one Ryouko had seen... earlier. _It wasn't a dream, was it?_ She lamented internally.

"Somewhat." Ryouko answered the girl. "You're... King Arthur, right?" It was the best conclusion she could come up with. If Kiritsugu had used Avalon to summon King Arthur, then Ryouko guessed that her usage of Avalon would summon King Arthur as well.

"Oh, no no no." The girl said hastily, waving her hands in denial. "I'm not King Arthur... not yet, anyway. I haven't completed my training to become a Knight, and I'm still a novice with the sword. But I hope to one day become a true King!"

"Uh... okay then..." Ryouko could take this in stride. She really had no idea what exactly to expect from the Holy Grail War, so she hadn't formed too many prior expectations. "So... what's your name, then?"

"I am Arturia Pendragon, Knight-Princess of Britain." Answered... Arturia cheerfully. It didn't _sound_ like a British name to Ryouko, but she supposed Old English names were different enough that it worked. "However, it seems Servants go by their class names to keep their true identities and abilities hidden, so you can also call me 'Saber.'"

_Servant?_ Ryouko thought. _Right, Shinji used that word to describe Rider... who herself was going by what seems to be a class name._ "So, what are the classes then?" Ryouko asked.

"Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker, Master." The Knight-Princess said, excited. "We shall duel against all of them, and emerge victorious!"

_That's... going to be a problem._ Ryouko thought, then spoke a question that had sparked in her mind. "What... actually happened last night, anyway? Rider was pretending to be a vampire, Shinji was gloating, you showed up... then what?"

"I intervened, surprising Rider, causing you to fall out of her evil clutches, Master." Arturia recounted. "After that, her master ordered her to retreat, and they fled into the night. I look forward to our future battles!"

"That's... surprisingly tame." Ryouko said. "Although, why are you so... obsessed with battles?

Saber stood up, and began to speak passionately. "Every duel is a step along my path, a waystone in my journey to become king. We learn chivalry from honorable combat, and so I shall learn to be king, grow and develop through hardship... Or at least that's what Merlin says." She blushed, before sitting back down.

"I... see." Ryouko nodded. "Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"When a Servant is summoned, they're granted instinctive knowledge of the modern world and the Grail War. Likewise, you should have a measure of instinctive knowledge of our opponents, at least those we encounter. With that on our side, our quest will undoubtedly succeed so long as I continue to improve!" Arturia said.

Now that Ryouko thought about it, Arturia was right. When she concentrated, she saw what looked to be encyclopedia entries in her mind's eye. Seven in total, they corresponded to the classes Saber had mentioned earlier, yet only two had any information in them: one on Saber, and one on Rider. They summarized and expanded on information she already knew, but she could still see the use, due to the fact that the stats classified things she'd only observed indirectly.

Now for the more important things: Objectives, Strategy, and Tactics. "So," Ryouko said, "what is your wish?"

"My wish is to seek the grail." Saber answered, making Ryouko think she'd been misunderstood.

"No, what I mean is 'what will you wish for if we win?'" She clarified.

"I don't have a wish." Saber said. "At least, not one that has not already been granted, at least in part. I want to fight through this war so that I can become worthy of kingship."

_...Eh?_ "But... if you look at your history, you ended up proving yourself worthy of kingship already. That is to say, your future self was worthy, which is... also your past self in a manner of speaking." Ryouko pointed out. "If that's the case, what's the use in proving yourself today after you have already succeeded? For that matter, how would it make... any difference?"

"I'm not actually sure." Saber chuckled nervously. "I honestly have no idea why I was summoned."

A moment passed, and Ryouko gave up on trying to understand that part of the situation. "Actually, I'd say this is fairly appropriate." She remarked. "You see, I don't really have a wish for the grail myself. I just want to protect those I care about. So... how 'bout this? You help me protect my family, and I aid you in your quest for the grail."

"Of course!" Arturia responded enthusiastically. "Protecting innocents is one of the most important duties of a knight!"

Ryouko smiled. "Thanks." She then tilted her head as she began to contemplate something. "Actually, if we really do win, we probably should have a wish prepared for the grail, y'know?"

"Do you have any ideas?" Saber asked.

"Well..." Ryouko smiled sadly. "My dad fought in the last grail war. The wish that he wanted to come true was to create a world where no one would ever need to cry again. It's not a wish I'm fully invested in, but still, it's a very beautiful wish, and it's the one he wanted to come true. If I could fulfill his wish... I would like that very much."

"A world where nobody needs to cry..." Arturia smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like a worthy goal."

Ryouko nodded. "I'm glad you agree. Now, I'm going to need to get prepared for this war."

\==*==/

Ryouko pulled a book on the shelf in the surface part of her workshop - really just the tool shed, more or less. As anyone with any sort of appreciation for secret passages could realize, the book was not actually a book. Rather, it was a switch that, when pulled, opened the _real_ part of Ryouko's workshop. A part of the floor telescoped outards, and a pole reached out from underneath to the ceiling. Sliding down the pole, Ryouko noted the oddly sterile environment that she'd built from hand - or rather, from magic. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of a simple plastic, and the lights she'd installed were designed to simulate daylight.

The pole was the main entrance of her workshop, a hall that was basically a monument to her academic interests. The right wall was dominated by a series of sliding whiteboards, each of which was filled with various equations, symbols, crappy drawings, and whatever half-baked idea she'd come up as of late. Meanwhile, the left wall was most prominent for its enormous collection of books. Ryouko was an avid reader, and while this place didn't fuel that particular craving, it did the next best thing: provide reference materials for every possible subject she could find interesting, and allow her to develop her magecraft. The main area of her laboratory was littered with random tools, pencils, open notebooks, and chairs of far too many varieties. There was also the occasional half-finished project, but those typically ended up getting in the way when she was designing her next project.

Past the "lounge" area lay the true results of Ryouko's experiments and tinkering: a series of mystic codes, standing proud on top of pedestals that displayed them in all their glory. There were swords, bows, guns, and sci-fi styled armor, surrounding what had to be the most important machine in Ryouko's collection. It was designed to use microneedles to extract her blood plasma, and through a series of possibly excessive steps, affix the prana stored inside the plasma to liquified hydrogen, producing what she had titled Merlin Gas. While it wasn't _actually_ gaseous, it still was made of a material that was a gas at room temperature, so as far as she was concerned, it counted.

Why was it so important? Simple: everything she'd made used it as a power source, and for good reason too. Nothing that existed could quite compete with the energy released by the combustion of Magically Reinforced Hydrogen... aside from nuclear energy sources, but Ryouko absolutely refused to have _any_ contact with those _whatsoever_. There were lengths that even she wouldn't go to.

From the display pedestals, Ryouko took a pair of bracers and strapped them to her wrists, ensuring they were firmly secured. Then, she took an aerogel-lined tube, filled it with Merlin gas from the tank she had beneath the floor, and transferred it to her bracers. This mystic code was a simple one, mostly used for storing Merlin Gas, but when she wasn't extracting exergy from that combustion, she could use them to shoot beams of flame _much_ stronger than those she'd shot at Rider.

That was the only Mystic Code she took as of this moment: anything else would be _much_ too conspicuous to carry around at school. Once she had a better idea of how exactly to handle this War, she'd most likely fully arm herself, but that was not now.

There was one final thing in Ryouko's workshop that did not quite fit with... anything in there, really. A simple, wooden shrine, on top of which rested a series of pictures and memorabilia. This was Kiritsugu's shrine. When he died, Ryouko had... not been in the best shape for some time afterwards, but she'd still wanted to erect a shrine to him in the main house. However, Taiga had put her foot down on the matter, saying that it would have the exact opposite effect on Ryouko than she'd wanted: causing her to grieve even more, rather than moving on. In a fit of pique, she had decided to build one in her workshop, dedicating it not only to her dad, but also to her older sister, who she'd never met, and all of the other parents she'd had, which totalled to five once she counted Kiritsugu. Still though, it was mainly his shrine, and underneath it, she housed the last thing he had ever given her.

Opening the bottom part of the shrine, she reached in and pulled _it_ out. Avalon. The Everdistant Utopia. The legendary scabbard of King Arthur, a Noble Phantasm that her father had used throughout the Grail War. Now that she had a past version of Arturia, her servant could hopefully use it to the effect described in the legends. Whether or not that was actually possible, Ryouko didn't know, but she had to try.

She held Avalon close as she jumped out of her workshop, using the energy in her bracers to propel herself the whole way.

\==*==/

"You should take it."

"No, you should!"

"I don't deserve it. It belongs to you."

"But you'll need it more than me."

Ryouko sighed. This Canadian Standoff was getting nowhere. "Look, I have been holding this thing out for, like, a minute, and my arms are quite literally shaking from the strain. Can you please at least take it for a couple seconds?"

In response, Arturia gently pushed the scabbard back towards Ryouko's chest. When her fingers touched the Noble Phantasm, Ryouko could swear that her outfit... flickered slightly, briefly turning blue before returning to its natural white color, but she couldn't be exactly sure.

"I am not the true king." Arturia said. "Not yet. Besides, Avalon will help you heal your wound."

"Eh?" Ryouko exclaimed, confused. "What wound?"

"Rider tried to suck your blood before I was able to save you." She explained. "She succeeded to an extent."

Ryouko instinctively reached up to the side of her neck that had been bitten, and felt the puncture holes, the remnants of Rider's attack, where her blood had been shed and... consumed. The area around the wounds was crusted with lines of dried blood, coming off in flakes when Ryouko removed her hand.

"How didn't I notice that earlier?" Ryouko wondered out loud, even as she began to break out into a cold sweat. She gave a thin smile. "Y'know, I think I will take Avalon, at least for now."

As she began the process of internalizing the Noble Phantasm, Arturia asked her a question. "Are you okay, Master?"

"Oh yeah, perfectly fine." Ryouko said, dizzily washing the blood off. "I'm just a little squeamish about blood loss. I'm going to go lie down in my bed now." She began walking towards her room, but the cold feeling got worse. "Or... maybe I'll just lie down here." She lay on the floor, resting her head on one of the pillows that was normally used for sitting.

"Is... is there anything I can do to help?" Saber asked, concerned.

"Nah, it'll fade in a bit." Ryouko waved off the offer. "I'm kinda used to it by this point."

"Okay, um..." The Servant scratched her head nervously. "What should I do now?"

The moment Saber said that, Ryouko heard the sound of the front door sliding open. "Quick, go into Spirit form!" She ordered, which had a weird effect when she was just lying down, but Saber complied, concentrating.

Or at least, she tried to. "I can't enter spirit form." She informed, even as Sakura began walking to the kitchen.

"Then hide!" Ryouko whispered.

"Where?"

"Anywhere!" Ryouko urged. Thankfully, Saber left immediately, running out of the living area even as Sakura entered. "Good morning." Ryouko greeted casually, as if this was a completely normal occurrence and in no way out of place.

Sakura stood in the threshold, staring at Ryouko, with a rather dumbfounded expression on her face. "Um... Ryouko..."

"Yes?" Ryouko smiled nonchalantly.

"Why are you on the floor?" Sakura asked.

"It's actually very comfy." Ryouko lied, pointedly ignoring the hardness of the wood. "Would you like to join me?"

Sakura continued standing there, trying to make sense of the situation, before eventually shaking her head and walking over to Ryouko. She crouched, putting her hand to the other girl's forehead. "Your skin is clammy, and your temperature is pretty high. What happened?"

"Um..." Ryouko tried to think of an explanation. She couldn't really say 'Your brother ordered a woman in bondage gear to suck my blood, causing my body to react in an extremely unproductive way hours later,' could she? "I was feeling a little sick, but I should be good in a bit." She said, without technically lying.

Sakura's forehead scrunched up in concern. "Do you have any idea what the cause is?"

Ryouko looked away. "Nah, but I know I'll be fine."

"How could you possibly know that if you don't know what caused it?" Sakura pointed out.

"I..." Ryouko began, but then sighed, shrugging helplessly. "I couldn't."

Sakura shook her head yet again, and went to go and take Ryouko's temperature, which was only mildly higher than normal, but Sakura decided that was enough reason to keep Ryouko where she was. After that, Sakura went on to make breakfast, the supposed most important meal of the day. (This was actually a topic subject to much debate in the Emiya Residence. Taiga, being a rather ravenous eater, was of the opinion that every meal was the most important meal of the day, while Ryouko said that the most important meal was dinner, as it served the purpose of giving everybody something to look forward to throughout the day. Sakura technically supported Taiga's viewpoint, but that was only because she refused to take sides.) Meanwhile, Ryouko continued lying on the floor, pouting.

\===*===/

"Why are you on the floor?" Taiga asked.

Ryouko lifted her head slightly. "Because Sakura thinks I'm sick." She'd long since recovered from her body reacting in stupid ways, but Sakura continued to insist that she should continue lying down.

"You have a fever. That means you're sick." Sakura called from the kitchen.

"I used to have one, but not anymore!" Ryouko retorted.

"Then go and take your temperature to prove it." Sakura suggested.

"I would, but I can't really do that when you're keeping me here." Ryouko asserted.

Taiga sighed, muttering something about old couples. "I'll go get a thermometer." With that, she went further into the house, passing the medical kit that Sakura had already got out. However, neither Sakura nor Ryouko were actually focusing on Taiga's actions, so neither of them bothered to mention it.

Ryouko gave a sigh, resigned to spending the rest of the day on the floor, when she heard a shout of surprise from another room.

"RYOUKO! WHY IS THERE A GIRL IN YOUR ROOM!?" Taiga yelled.

A lot of things happened immediately afterwards. Sakura jumped in shock, dropping the ladle into the pot. Ryouko's eyes widened, realizing that she'd completely forgotten about Saber, and she got up to run to her room, with Sakura calling out for her to stop, but deciding to follow Ryouko after that didn't work. Upon arrival, Ryouko skidded to a stop in the face of an angry Tiger. Sakura, however, didn't have time to react as she turned the corner, and accidentally ran into Ryouko, causing both girls to fall over.

Arturia nervously walked out of Ryouko's room, revealing that she'd had the presence of mind to dematerialize her arms and armor. That would have been even harder to explain. Still, though... "Sakura, can you please get up?" Ryouko grimaced. "You're making me feel inadequate."

"Oh, sorry!" Sakura quickly stood up, giving Ryouko the space to do the same.

"Well?" Taiga pressed.

"I'm sorry, Fuji-nee, but there's a perfectly logical explanation for this." Ryouko affirmed, giving Saber an intense look that said 'play along.' She didn't actually have any ideas about what to say, so she quickly scanned Taiga and Sakura for signs of suspicion or ideas that she could use, but then saw something that made Ryouko's blood run cold: Sakura had a faint, almost imperceptible bruise on her cheek. Considering the situation surrounding the only possible person that she knew who would do something like that to Sakura... Ryouko knew what she was going to say, her logic driven by a cold anger.

"So I was walking home after I made sure that Sakura had gotten to her house safely, when Shinji approached me." Ryouko said, as her voice began to grow more frigid. "He was apparently offended that I told him off at yesterday's archery club meeting, and decided to take a joke I made _way_ too far. Namely, he pulled a knife on me, justified by a fake suggestion of 'knives at sunset.'"

"Okay... but how does this girl come into all of this?" Taiga asked, eyes still wide in shock, in a way akin to literally everyone in the situation aside from Ryouko.

"Well, I was just getting to that." Ryouko reassured. "You see, I was able to hold Shinji off for a time, until she came along with a pipe, and used it to fend him off and force him to retreat. After a bit of conversation, I learned that she was..." Ryouko trailed off for a bit, trying to think of something applicable. "She's a foreign exchange student from England that, due to a paperwork error, thought that we were going to house her while she attended Homurahara, despite there being no real family that agreed to house her. So, I decided that she could stay here, given her circumstances."

"Are you sure?" Taiga said. "That seems a little far-fetched. Also," she turned to Saber, "what is your name?"

_Oh shit shit shit shit._ Ryouko thought. She needed to think of a good name, and fast.

"I've had far stranger things happen to me. As for my name, it's Sab-" Atruria began.

"-rina!" Ryouko interrupted, completing the name. "Sabrina, uh... Lily! Sabrina Lily-san."

"Er... Yes!" The servant that was not named Sabrina said. "That is definitely my full name. There is absolutely no doubt about that."

Taiga took a deep breath. "So, what should we do about this Shinji situation?"

"Absolutely nothing." Ryouko answered. "He's an unstable, spoiled rich kid. He'd probably be able to circumvent any charges levied against him. Although... Sakura."

The girl in question perked up. "Yes?"

"Would it be fine for you if you stayed here instead of at the Matou manor? I personally do not like the idea of you spending any more time near Shinji than is necessary."

"I... um... Ah... that is to say..." Sakura stuttered, surprised at the offer. She finished by saying something under her breath, too quiet for Ryouko to hear.

"Sorry, what? I didn't catch that." Ryouko said.

"I said... that I would like that very much." Sakura repeated, blush evident on her face.

Taiga chuckled. "I'll go call her grandfather." She left the area, missing Ryouko's frozen smile upon the mention of Sakura's grandfather. Ryouko didn't know how he knew what he did, but she did know that he had no right to know those things. There was also the fact that he was confident of his ability to hurt her even considering their respective ages, and it really just gave Ryouko the impression that she should stay away from that man as much as possible.

Sakura sighed. "I'll go finish breakfast." She left the hallway as well.

Once Sakura was gone, Ryouko looked at "Sabrina." "Okay, so you got a general understanding of the current situation?"

Saber laughed nervously. "I think I did... Your family is even stranger than mine was."

Ryouko smiled thinly. "Yeah, things get like that sometimes. Anyway, you're going to be attending school with us, so you're going to need a uniform." She walked over to the dresser, and brought out one of her spares. "Here. Put this on." She tossed it over to the Servant.

Saber caught it flawlessly. "Okay... but first, what should I call you, Master?"

"Oh yeah, I never did introduce myself..." Ryouko mused. "Ryouko. Emiya Ryouko. Any variation is fine."

Meanwhile, Arturia took on a thoughtful expression. "Emiya..."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, nothing!" Saber said. "It's just that your surname seems familiar to me somehow, but I can't place from where..."

Ryouko considered that. "Well, my father did summon King Arthur, who I assume is your future self, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of bleed through."

"Hm... Yeah, I guess that makes sense... I should change now." Arturia said.

"Right." Ryouko slid the door shut, and a couple minutes later, the family had breakfast, albeit with one rather... large stomached newcomer. When it came time to leave for archery practice, they left, assuming nothing could go wrong...

\===*===/

Ryouko froze when she entered the school's gates. She heard something, but her ears didn't pick up the sound. The air in the school's courtyard was filled with that not-sound, its noise feeling almost like a sinister sizzling, but muffled, as if it were obstructed by some sort of membrane.

"Hm?" Taiga said, turning around. "What is it, Ryouko?"

"I... think I'll be skipping Archery practice today." Ryouko excused herself. "I'll need to show Lily-san around school." Obviously, that wasn't her real purpose. All magi are capable of perceiving magic, to a certain extent, but since it was not something that humanity had any natural awareness of, a person's magic sense had to be expressed via a preexisting sensory neural pathway. For Ryouko, that sense was hearing. Taking that into account, alongside the nature of the noise she'd heard and the situation at hand, it was obvious that this Bounded Field was dangerous, and required investigation. The fact that she felt her Od slowly being absorbed by the field in tiny amounts was also a rather clear indicator.

Besides, Ryouko also needed to smooth over the details of Saber's "enrollment" in Homurahara.

"That's okay. Have fun!" Taiga gave Ryouko leave to roam about the school.

"Thanks!" Ryouko said. "Please follow me, Lily-san."

With that, the pair left, not noticing Sakura's accusatory glance towards them.

\===*===/

"So, how are we going to find this dastardly schemer?" Arturia asked.

"We aren't." Ryouko answered. "This field is obviously extremely dangerous, so I will not allow it to be activated while it can harm Fuji-nee or Sakura."

"But how will you do that without finding the culprit?"

"Well, there are quite a lot of ways." Ryouko said. "The easiest would be to hypnotize them to not come to school, but that poses several issues, both ethical and practical. The practical issues could be partially eliminated if they were excused from school officially, but that still may rouse suspicions among any masters among the student population, which is honestly unusually high, even though there are only two... at least, anyway. Ultimately, after considering my options carefully, I determined that the best course of action would be to blow up the school."

Arturia was dumbfounded. "You're going to try to save the people in a building by blowing up said building?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I won't do it when there are people in the building, it's just to keep people out of the vicinity, after all." Ryouko reasons. "Besides, it won't be the _whole_ building, just most of it."

The Servant considered that logic. "But how will we find the culprit? What if they just build the barrier somewhere else?"

"Well, yes, finding the culprit would be preferable, but we really have no way of knowing exactly who did his... even though it's probably Shinji, considering he's the only other master here that we know of. There's also the question of exactly when this barrier will do things beyond just harvesting miniscule amounts of Od from everyone. We don't want him to activate it here and now, so this is ultimately the safest route."

"I... suppose." Arturia seems to accept the logic.

"Anyway, look alive." Ryouko suggests. "We're here." She indicated the door to the Dean's office, which they'd been walking towards.

Arturia glanced sideways at Ryouko. "How _are_ you going to explain this, anyway?"

Ryouko grinned. "You'll see." With that, she opened the door, revealing a small, sparsely-appointed room, which housed a desk with a couple trinkets on it, a couple chairs, and not much else. The Dean of Homurahara Academy sat behind the desk, looking like just the sort of tired, resigned person you'd expect to be in a position where they dealt with people like Ryouko daily.

She looked up when Ryouko entered, and her expression quickly soured. "What is it now, Ryouko?" She sighed, conveying the universally sympathetic sentiment of 'It's too early.'

Ryouko, however, wasn't here to chat, as fun as that may be. "_These are not the droids you're looking for_." She intoned, staring straight into the Deen's eyes and waving her hand.

The Deen blinked as the spell-because it was a spell-washed over her. "These are not the droids we're looking for." She agreed, confirming that the hypnosis had worked. Yes, Ryouko had based her aria for hypnosis on a Jedi Mind Trick. It'd just seemed like the right thing to do. Now for the more important part.

"This person right here," Ryouko indicated Saber, "is a British foreign exchange student named Lily Sabrina. She is most definitely supposed to be a student here, and according to the paperwork, she is currently residing in the Emiya Household."

The Deen repeated the words back to her. Honestly, Ryouko wasn't having that much fun with this, considering that it was a one-sided conversation. Still...

"Today, the reason I came here is that I was complaining about the mismanagement of the budget for extracurricular clubs, but you informed me that it was out of your hands." Ryouko made up, to the agreement of the Deen, giving a plausible excuse for why she was visiting her. After that, she and Arturia left the office, and began to set up a couple of the explosives before class began.

\===*===/

Second period ended, and Tohsaka Rin left the music room. It was a troublesome situation, really. She didn't know who had constructed this Bounded Field, she couldn't go and investigate it until the entire school left, for a vast slew of reasons.

Well, as things stood, her current situation was the best she could get at the moment. If she went to investigate this field, she'd both tarnish her reputation and, more importantly, risk someone seeing her perform magic. If that happened, she might end up needing to remove their memories or, failing that... kill them. She'd always been careful, and wasn't about to tarnish her perfect reputation now.

When she turned a corner, she noticed a first-year she hadn't seen before carrying a large stack of papers. She had a very slight build, so Rin thought that she would've had trouble carrying the papers, but she wasn't. Instead, she was doing so with ease. Rin's eyes drifted up to get a better look at her face, and was briefly stunned. The girl had green, jewel-like eyes, flaxen-gold hair, and a bright complexion. She wore an innocent, yet courageous smile that made Rin feel more cheerful just by looking at it, and the soft contours of her face simply reaffirmed the kindness and beauty readily apparent.

A blush rose to Rin's face, unbidden. This person didn't _look_ like she was having trouble, but you could never be completely sure, after all.

"I'll help." Rin said, approaching the girl, who looked up in surprise, which was quickly wiped away as her smile widened in gratitude.

"Thanks!" She said, letting Rin take half of the stack. Rin was again flat-footed by the bell-like voice of the girl, but managed to regain her composure more quickly.

"So, where are we taking these?" Rin asked.

"Apparently... Kuzuki-sensei wanted them recalled because there was a misspelling." The girl answered.

"Oh, he's my homeroom teacher." Rin remarked. "Do you know where his office is?"

The first year's eyes widened in surprise, before a blush rose up her face. "...No." She said, embarrassed.

"It's okay." Rin consoled, chuckling slightly. "You just got here, didn't you?"

"...Yes." The first-year answered reluctantly.

"Then I'll show you the way." Rin said, and began leading the girl to the World History teacher's office. "I'm Rin, Tohsaka Rin. What's your name?"

"Sabrina. Lily Sabrina." The girl mimicked the order Rin gave her name in. The two of them walked in silence for a bit, before Sabrina spoke up. "Actually..."

"Yes, Lily-chan?" Rin inquired.

"Um... do you know which classroom a student named Matou Shinji is in?"

Rin sighed. "Do you really want to know?" She asked, to which Sabrina nodded earnestly in response. "Class 2-C. Why?"

"Oh, no reason..." Sabrina trailed off.

When no further response seemed forthcoming, Rin spoke. "Well, take my word for it. He's not a nice guy, and a cute girl like yourself shouldn't get involved with him, okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I know." Sabrina's smile turned a bit more daring. Rin considered the topic for a bit, before noticing their location.

"We're here, Lily-chan." Rin informed, before Sabrina took back the papers and went to give them to Kuzuki-sensei. Meanwhile, Rin returned to her classroom, trying to not think of the overwhelming adorableness of the girl she'd met. She half-expected Archer to make fun of her, but he seemed deep in thought.

Odd.

\===*===/

Ryouko stood up from the bucket her servant had placed on the roof, stretching her back under the moonlight. "That should be the last of them." She said, to which Saber breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally. I thought we'd keep setting up these explosives until dawn."

Ryouko chortled. "God no. We don't need nearly that much. Besides, we'd need to probably wait longer than a day for them to be fully set if we did that many." She began to turn to go back to the ground floor, but stopped when an unfamiliar voice spoke up from the top of the water tower.

"Oh, you're just going to leave them? What a waste." The voice, a male one, lamented.

Ryouko whirled around alongside Arturia, and looked upon the newcomer. The man was dressed in a deep blue bodysuit that would have normally looked ridiculous, but he managed to make it seem fearsome. He casually carried a rather large spear on his back, and his posture was like that of a bird of prey, or perhaps a cat, casually looking at his intended targets, with the ability to deal death at any moment.

He smirked.

Considering his attire and his weapon, Ryouko surmised that this was a servant of the Lancer class. Assuming that was true, retreat was not a real option. Thus, she could engage in combat or diplo-

"I'll defend you, Master." Saber said, interrupting Ryouko's thoughts. "You should get to safety." She stepped forward in front of Ryouko as her armored dress materialized, making some weird, unfocused part of Ryouko's brain start imagining Arturia as the star of some sort of magical girl anime. Tuning that thought out, she sprinted to the fence and leapt above it, powering the maneuver with her bracers.

"As if I'd let you." Lancer said grimly, and then shot from the water tower to Ryouko, intending to strike her in midair. However, she was able to quickly form a rudimentary shield to protect herself. It wouldn't be enough to hold against a normal thrust while on the ground, but that wasn't what it was supposed to do. All it was doing was distributing the strike's force, and so Ryouko, instead of being skewered, was launched clear of the rooftop.

His attempt foiled, Lancer was just barely able to bring his spear up to block when Saber appeared by his side and swung her sword. Still, he was forced into the side of a wall, reducing his mobility. He grimaced.

Saber continued pressing the attack, trading blow after blow with the spearman, a grin matching Lancer's earlier one clear on her face. She was truly enjoying this battle, an opportunity to test her skills against an opponent who carried enough renown to become a heroic spirit.

Lancer didn't disappoint. Even after being put on the back foot, he was able to hold his own at a range where his spear became unwieldy. After only a couple seconds-the equivalent of nearly twenty different strikes- he was able to respond with attacks of his own, and managed to begin pushing Saber back far enough that he was able to extricate himself from the corner, after which he swifty ran around to begin attacking Saber from another angle.

He pushed forward with a strong thrust, but her instincts saw it coming. She sidestepped, and swung Caliburn at his unprotected legs. In order to avoid the potentially crippling blow, Lancer thrusted his spear's head against the ground and leapt, reaching the other side of the rooftop within moments. Arturia reoriented herself to face her foe.

"So, I take it that your sword is your Noble Phantasm?" He said, positioning himself into a defensive stance.

Arturia grinned. "Indeed, Servant of the Lance. I would like to reveal its name, but-"

"Caliburn." Lancer interrupted. "While not as famed as your other sword, there is no Heroic Spirit who wouldn't recognize that blade."

Arturia's shoulders slumped. "Already? I thought that people would take at least a couple days to figure it out." She pouted.

Lancer chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint, King of Knights. As recompense, perhaps we could call this a draw?"

Arturia considered the option. She really did, but there was really only one real option. "No. Now that my identity has been revealed, there's no need to hold back." With that, she held Caliburn close, and began charging her Noble Phantasm.

Lancer grinned, and set his spear, causing it to absorb mana in massive quantities, coalescing into a demonic red-black aura around the entire lance. The next moment would be a contest of their legends, to see who was truly the stronger Hero.

And then the door to the roof opened, revealing the second-year student that Arturia had met earlier that day, Tohsaka Rin. The two servants looked at her in surprise, an expression which she returned in kind.

"...Lily-chan?" Rin said, dumbfounded by the Kouhai's current... status.

Lancer was the first to act, letting the prana dissipate from his spear and lunging at the student, full force. Saber ran at him in a path that she hoped would allow her to to intercept him in time, but part of her knew it was futile. She wouldn't get there in time. The spearhead was thrust at Rin...

But it was deflected. A tall man in black and red materialized by her side, holding a dark, short, crescent-shaped sword. Lancer was pushed back, shocked by the intervention. When she reached Rin, Saber decided to stand by the side of the unknown Servant. They might not have been officially allies, but they still had a common enemy at the moment.

"So, you're a master. And you..." Lancer said grimly, analyzing the unknown servant. "Are an Archer. I'm wise enough to know I'm outmatched when against two servants. I'll leave you all be for now." With that, he ran and jumped over the rooftop's fence, fleeing at incredible speeds-fast enough that neither Saber nor Archer could keep up with him.

The trio that was left on the roof proceeded to sheath their weapons, if they had them out, and stand there awkwardly. Neither Rin nor Saber had any idea what to say, nor did Archer, for that matter.

Arturia opened her mouth to say something, but then the forest caught fire.

_Ryouko!_

\===*===/

Ryouko twisted in midair and mentally plotted her trajectory. Lancer's strike had carried extremely large amounts of force, so considering her current speed, she'd intercept the ground... somewhere in the forest, so long as she managed to avoid getting impaled by a branch or something stupid like that. She repositioned the rudimentary shield of air she'd created, forced as much power into it as it could take, and hoped that it could take enough punishment.

Thankfully, the shield managed to hold out against the branches. However, they still obscured her vision, so she didn't know when she would-

**-Crash!-**

She landed, completely unprepared, and her shield broke against the force, protecting her from the worst of it, while still letting her shamelessly drop to the ground. She struggled to her feet, brushing herself off.

_Well,_ she thought, _I'm not doing that again._ She turned around, looking back in the direction of the school. _At least I'm more safe now. I guess I can cross "getting thrown from a building by a man in blue tights" off the bucket list._

Then, as if to punish her for thinking she was safe, a familiar voice spoke up from behind.

"Ah, Emiya. I've been expecting you." Matou Shinji said. Ryouko whirled around to see the seaweed-haired asshole smugly leaning against a tree, an unfamiliar book in his hands. "True, I thought that you'd have that adorable knight with you, but I suppose I can't get lucky all the time."

Ryouko scowled, rolling up her sleeves and pointing her left bracer at Shinji. "What do _you_ want?"

"Oh, I'm hurt." Shinji mock-protested. "This is the response I get after I went out of my way to offer an alliance to my sister's best friend?"

"Seriously?" Ryouko raised an eyebrow. "That's your motive? What makes you think that I'd join up with _you_ of all people?"

"Well, your servant seemed amicable enough after I promised to help search for the person who created that Bounded Field. I thought that she'd tell you about it, but I guess she forgot."

Ryouko blinked.

"What."

\===*===/

_Eight hours earlier..._

"Halt, evildoer!" Saber shouted at the master who had attacked hers by proxy the previous night. He turned around, and looked at her with a disinterested expression.

"Ah, Emiya's servant. Why are you here?" He didn't seem too concerned, probably because she was unlikely to actually attack him in daylight, even if they were outside at the moment and away from witnesses within earshot.

"Undo this Bounded Field right now!" Arturia ordered.

"Oh, you mean the Bounded Field around the school? I would if I could." He said. "But since I'm not the one who put it up, that's pretty difficult."

Arturia relaxed her stance, surprised. "You're not the one who put up this Bounded Field?"

"No, I'm not. I'm actually trying to find the person responsible myself." He claimed.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Shinji answered, but then raised a finger as if a thought had occurred to him. "Actually, I have an idea. What if your master and I join forces to find out who did this?"

\===*===/

_Present time._

"And that's how I found out you were going to be in the school after it ended." Shinji finished.

Ryouko narrowed her eyes. "And where's Rider?"

"I sent her away for the time being. Her presence would not be very good for these negotiations."

Ryouko grinned. "Perfect." She shot a beam of concentrated fire at Shinji, who was just able to duck. The beam dissipated soon after, without hitting any trees.

"I see. That's how it is." Shinji scowled, and opened his book. Its pages began to move of their own accord, as if a wind was blowing through them. Suddenly, the shadows in the forest began to darken, and coalesced into four different blade-like, surrounding Ryouko, before they shot towards her.

_Shit!_ Ryouko cursed mentally. With these attacking her, she couldn't focus on Shinji without risking getting hit. Still...

She rolled out of the way as the shadow blades converged on her location. Instead of hitting each other, they repositioned themselves so their paths didn't intersect, and shot at Ryouko once more. She raised her right bracer and shot a beam at one of them, testing its durability. When the jet of fire hit it, it dissolved. So she _could_ damage them effectively.

She dodged between gap formed by the loss of one of the blades, and before they could reposition themselves, she drew on her bracers to create a crescent of wind, slashing through the shadows. Now that she didn't have those shadows attacking her, she could focus on the real problem.

Ryouko turned to Shinji, who was standing straight up now, fear in his eyes. She took the chance to fire twin beams of flame at him from both her bracers, positioned just so that even if he dodged one, he'd be straight in the path of another.

The moment before the beams made contact, a chain whipped out, intercepting their paths. Rider materialized in front of her master.

"You should leave." The servant said to Shinji, making it the first time Ryouko had heard her speak. "This opponent is too much for you." The anthropomorphic turd scowled even harder, before giving in and running away.

Once Shinji was out of earshot, Ryouko considered her options. She could either try to fight a foe who was stronger, faster, and tougher than she was, or she could try to talk it out with the servant...

Well, her alignment _was_ apparently Chaotic Good. That meant that Ryouko had at least a chance to turn Rider, as far as she could tell.

Surprisingly, Rider was the first to talk. "You aren't going to use a Command Seal?"

Ryouko... had no idea what those were, but she obviously couldn't reveal that, so... "I don't need one. More importantly, are you sure you want Shinji to be your Master?" Ryouko asked. "He's a really terrible person. Like, seriously, he hits his sister."

"So you are trying to convince me to abandon that boy and join you?" Rider said. "I wonder, how much are you motivated by sympathy, and how much are you motivated by simple fear?"

_Well shit. She saw through me._ "Well, when I said that, I was more focused on the fact that you could probably kill me with a glance, but now that I think about it... Oh god, I'm ninety nine percent sure that Shinji is at least some variety of womanizer, but... Are you okay?" Ryouko's eyes were wide in horror, feelings of concern distracting her from the sheer absurdity of the fact that she'd just asked a Heroic Spirit, who, by her own admission, could probably kill her with a glance, if she was okay.

Rider chuckled. "I see. So you actually are a good person. In that case, I shall kill you mercifully." Then, before Ryouko was able to open her mouth to object, either to the "good person" part or the "kill" part, Rider threw one of her dagger spike chain... _things_ at Ryouko, who was just able to jump out of the way. She hit the ground and took a couple scrapes, but nothing too serious.

Ryouko clamored to her feet, only to find the chain-spike snaking back around towards her, even as Rider threw another spike. _Of course. Why wouldn't she move them with her mind? It's not like she's blatantly overpowered or anything._ Ryouko complained mentally as she created a circular shield of force around herself, barely deflecting the spikes. She looked back at where Rider was, and didn't see her.

_Shit_. Ryouko thought as chain-spikes began to shoot around the forest in every direction, wrapping around trees and cutting off any path of escape. She was so occupied with trying to find Rider that she didn't notice the spike heading towards her side until it was nearly too late. She was just able to create a shield around her bracer and block the projectile, but that proved to be just as bad of an option, as the spike's chain circled around her torso, trapping her.

Ryouko began to try and struggle free of the chain, but it was rather futile, especially after she was lifted up by it, another chain acting as a sort of pulley. She found herself face to face with Rider, who was kneeling atop another one of her chains.

"Do you have any last words?" Rider asked, pressing a spike against Ryouko's throat.

Ryouko closed her eyes, desperately trying to think of something, anything that could get her out of this situation and in a wide open space, where Rider _wouldn't_ be so overpoweringly strong in her element.

Then it hit. _In her element, huh? Well, you could say I'm also in my element. With all of these trees around, it's practically a fire hazard. Screw it, I'm going to do it._

Ryouko mumbled something that could possibly count as her "Last Words." Rider leaned closer.

"What was that?"

Ryouko opened her eyes. "I _said_, I never liked this forest anyway." With that, she expended a significant amount of Merlin Gas in her left bracer, producing a wave of force so strong that the chains around her shattered, and Rider was blown backwards. With the remaining power in her left bracer, Ryouko softened her fall and drew a circular boundary marking in the Earth that encompassed a significant region of the forest. She then ejected both gas vials and caught them.

"You see, you're blatantly overpowered in tight spaces where there are a lot of stable things to wrap chains around." Ryouko explained, holding the remaining vial aloft. "So the only way to counteract that is to remove everything stable here besides the ground itself." She dropped the vial full of Merlin Gas, and burned all of its contents, producing enough energy to ignite every single tree within the boundary she'd established.

The forest became noticeably hotter when everything caught flame, but not as much as one would expect. Rider, in an attempt to stop... whatever it was that Ryouko was going to do, threw a dagger at her, but it was forced aside by some unknown source. That's when Rider realized what the girl was doing: she was burning the trees not just to cut off Rider's advantage, but also to fuel whatever magecraft she was about to pull off.

The fire grew in magnitude, and Ryouko began to float upwards in the air, a sphere of whirling wind surrounding her as she began to chant.

\===*===/

Rin gazed at the forest, wreathed in flame, before turning to L- Saber. "Do you know what's going on there?"

Saber's eyes were wide. "My master's probably in danger... I'm sorry. I'll explain everything later." She jumped over the fence with a burst of prana, and began running toward the wildfire.

"Lily-chan!" Rin futilely reached out for the rapidly shrinking figure. Her frustration with the situation grew rapidly. "Archer! Support me!"

"Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?" Her servant questioned, but she was already gone, having jumped over the fence herself. Archer sighed, and surveyed the situation from above. The fire was contained in a perfect circle, at the center of which, within a spherical wall of wind, a person wearing the Homurahara Academy girl's uniform floated. She was easily within the range of his Clairvoyance, and he could tell that she had orange-red hair, tied in a tight braid behind her back. He didn't recognize this person, but he... felt that she should not exist, if his-admittedly disjointed-were correct. On the forest floor, he saw Rider, desperately trying to stop the girl, using a truly massive number of her spiked chains. Meanwhile, Rin and the odd Saber were trying to find a safe way into the circle of flame, while... _Shinji_ was fleeing the scene. He was about to try to open a path for Rin and Saber via copious use of projectile bombardment, but then the flames changed color to a pure white.

_That's not good._ Archer thought.

\===*===/

Ryouko accessed her family's crest for the ritual's formula-because it was a ritual, with a full ten counts. She hadn't ever actually used this one before, as she'd never had anything that she was willing to sacrifice something as substantial as, for example, a forest for. Thankfully, the knowledge recorded in her crest was enough to compensate for any lack of experience. Once she was finished going over the ritual's characteristics, she began her chant.

"_Oh flame, first gift of humanity, I beseech thee_

_Fuel: I offer up a forest full of life_

_Breath: I offer up a wealth of my own Od_

_Spark: I offer up the life of my foe, a Heroic Spirit_

_I seek the destructive power of the inferno_

_The distant sun, brought down to Earth_

_Thou art a paragon of potential_

_Against this foe who has stolen my life's blood_

_I will wield thy power_

_Igni-"_

"**Breaker Gorgon**"

\===*===/

Saber watched as the flames of the forest changed colors from orange to white, and began shining not with a natural orange light, but with a radiant, sparkling silver light. The flames twisted and spiraled upwards to a single point above Ryouko, growing brighter with every moment. As the chant, spoken in a calm, yet determined voice, barely audible over the roaring flames, neared completion, another voice, smooth as bared steel, spoke out.

"**Breaker Gorgon**"

Those words resonated throughout the blazing forest with great weight, despite being spoken incredibly softly. The fire emitted a blinding flash of silver light, and then vanished, leaving behind a perfect circle of scorched earth, covered with trees made entirely out of ice, with an opaque white core, yet barren of any living foliage, vegetation, or animal life, aside from two figures that Arturia recognized: her master, unconscious, falling from the sky, and the Rider-class Servant she'd fought the previous day. Saber knew what she had to do.

She dashed forwards, weaving through the trees of ice, even as they (for some reason) began to explode around her. If she failed to save the life of a companion, what sort of knight could she call herself, much less a king?

But on some level, she knew it was in vain, as Rider threw one of her chain-spikes straight at her master's heart. Before it could contact, however, the convergence point of the flames burst open, releasing a massive blast of light, heat, and force, smashing the unconscious Ryouko onto the forest floor with a sharp crack.

\===*===/

"_-tion!_" Ryouko finished, and then instantly realized something was wrong. The air in... wherever she was now was far too warm to be a winter night, the lighting, or at least what she could see of it through her eyelids, was entirely incorrect, she wasn't floating, and instead seemed to be lying on some sort of cushion. She kept her eyes closed

_Well,_ she thought as she began analyzing her situation, _I imagine this is where I'm supposed to ask if I've died and gone to heaven, but I know that isn't how it works, so that can be crossed off the list. Seeing as there was a seamless transition from the forest to... here, I can be reasonably certain that I didn't fall unconscious. Therefore, the only reasonable explanations for my current situation are teleportation or some form of illusion. Given what I know about magecraft, the latter is more likely. Well, only one way to find out._

Ryouko sat up and opened her eyes, or at least she tried to. When she made her attempt, she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder and another on her hip, gently pushing her down. Ryouko opened her eyes anyway, and came face to face with a woman of otherworldly beauty. Now, Ryouko was a person who tended to not pay that much attention to people's appearances and their attractiveness, but even she had to admit that this was a gorgeous individual, with flowing purple hair, hard features interrupted by a soft, ethereal smile, and eyes that glimmered like carved gemstones... which also had rectangular pupils. Strangely enough, this woman's face seemed familiar.

Ryouko began trying to place where she'd seen the woman before, when the woman spoke up in a _very_ recognizable voice.

"Shh... just relax." Rider said.

Ryouko scrambled backwards, and her head slammed into what seemed to be wood. Looking around, she seemed to be in a very richly-appointed bedroom, full of pillows and soft light streaming in from many windows. That was all Ryouko was able to observe before the pain of hitting what most likely was a headboard... hit her, so to speak. She lurched forward, clutching her head as the stinging pain began to fade.

Rider sighed. "You do know that you are doing the exact opposite of relaxing, right? I was going to make the transition as peaceful as I could, but you're making it rather difficult."

Ryouko, once the pain faded looked back at Rider, who was now sitting calmly on the bed. She narrowed her eyes.

"What transition? Why are you trying to make it as peaceful as you can?" Ryouko interrogated. "...And what is going on, anyway?"

Rider put her hand to her forehead, sighing again. Ryouko seemed to induce that reaction in nearly everyone she met. "You're going to die soon, and I decided that you deserved at least a little mercy. As for what is going on, you're trapped inside my mind. Now can you please just relax and enjoy this gift?"

Ryouko thought back to the last words Rider had said before she'd... woken up here, or whatever. "Breaker Gorgon," she'd said. That sounded like the name of some sort of special ability, so Ryouko accessed the handy dandy servant database that the grail provided in order to find out exactly what "Breaker Gorgon" was.

A cursory read-over revealed several pieces of new information. Rider's true name was actually Medusa, she possessed Cybele, the Mystic Eyes of Petrification, and Breaker Gorgon was one of her Noble Phantasms.

It was one of the most blatantly overpowered things Ryouko had ever seen (read?), and only served to make Medusa more blatantly overpowered. Despite having a rank of C-, it irrevokably incapacitated an enemy, cancelling Magecraft and Noble Phantasms, and trapped them inside her mind. Also, it worked as a Mystic Eye Killer, turning it into the most valuable blindfold Ryouko had ever seen (granted, she hadn't seen that many blindfolds, but the principle still applied).

Once she had reviewed all the information, Ryouko noticed something strange.

"So... You said I was dying." She said.

"I did." Rider agreed.

"So... why haven't you killed me yet?" Ryouko asked. "Not that I particularly want to be killed."

"You fell from a rather significant height, were struck by a significant discharge of force, and then got struck by shards of ice from exploding trees." Rider explained. "Your allies managed to rescue your body, but you should die soon."

Ryouko processed that information. "...Okay then. Yeah, that'll probably kill me. The human body is pretty damn fragile." Even with Avalon, she didn't think its healing would be enough to heal... most likely, broken everything, severe organ trauma, and potentially punctured lungs.

The two of them sat there silently for a while, until Ryouko physically could not take the awkwardness.

"Okay, I'm bored." She pouted. "Is there anything to do here?"

Rider once again sighed in exasperation. "Anything that I can think of, we can do. This really wouldn't be a problem if you'd just relaxed and let me take care of everything."

"Well, what would we have done in that case?" Ryouko asked.

"You're sitting on a comfortable bed, and wearing nightclothes." Rider pointed out. "The intent was to change a violent end into simply falling asleep."

Ryouko was a bit surprised at the nightclothes statement, but a quick check revealed that she was wearing a generic nightgown, which was mildly relieving: if she was wearing her normal clothes, she'd be a bit worried about Rider being some sort of stalker.

"Yeah, well I suppose that's well-intentioned enough..." Ryouko mused. "But I'm not going to go to sleep now. I just need to think of something to do..."

Medusa closed her eyes, exasperated, but sat there quietly nonetheless.

"Can we do something like... playing a game?" Ryouko asked. "I've become pretty experienced at shogi out of necessity, so maybe we could play that."

"You do know that I could plunge you into a nightmare of infinite pain, right?" Rider informed.

"Probably, yeah, but you aren't." Ryouko guessed. "Because you are actually a good person who just so happens to be working for the shittiest human being on the planet!"

Rider cringed. "Let's just play this game."

After that, Ryouko and Rider played many different board games throughout the night, waiting for Ryouko to die. It was one of the strangest situations Ryouko had ever been in, but she got used to chatting with the Gorgon that had imprisoned her inside her mind before she died.

After Rider won their fifteenth game of checkers, she spoke up. "So it seems that you did survive. Congratulations, I suppose."

Ryouko looked up. "What? No, you won that game."

Rider gave her a look, of the sort that basically said that she was being an idiot.

Ryouko considered that, taking a couple minutes to understand what Rider had said. "Oh yeah, right, the battle..." She realized. "I guess then... could you send me back to reality, please?"

"Very well." Rider obliged. "Prepare yourself."

Ryouko nodded, steeling her resolve, and as she woke up to reality, was promptly hit by an abject lack of od, passing out in her own bed.


	4. Day 3

Day 3: Outings and Discoveries

Ryouko opened her eyes to a bright light shining in from her windows and from her lamp. Her body was hot and heavy, and her Od was low. She raised her arm to shield herself from the glare, and struggled up. _Well, I'm not doing _that_ again._ She thought. _Seriously. Who in the world would make up a ritual that draws directly from the user's own Od? That could be lethal in the wrong circumstances!_

Still... she _had_ gone and used that ritual herself, so it evidently had some use. She bent backwards to stretch her back, and promptly toppled over with a crash. She cursed internally at the pain. When her mind cleared, Sakura was there, wearing her apron over her uniform, while gently holding Ryouko's shoulders.

"-" Sakura spoke, her voice not reaching Ryouko, who blinked, trying to regain a sliver of consciousness, but the only thing in her mind was a raw haze of heat. In that thoughtless state produced by a lack of blood flow to the brain, all she noticed was the distance between her face and Sakura's, and the ease at which that space could be crossed.

But then there were more people in the room, and Ryouko felt a strange warmth in her chest, a light that dispelled the haze around her thoughts. Still, it did not cure the lack of prana. _Avalon?_ She shook her head, dismissing the thought, and looked around her. Sakura, Taiga, and Saber were all clustered in her room. Sakura, as she had noted earlier, was gently holding her shoulders, and was... very close. Taiga was standing with her arms crossed, and Saber had an expression of concern on her face, slightly marred by the fact that there was a piece of pasta hanging out of her mouth.

"I'm disappointed, really." Taiga said. "First, you hide your sickness, then you stay after school to investigate a meteor strike, with only Lily-san accompanying you."

_...What?_ Ryouko thought. _Wait, that must've been Saber's alibi. I gotta play along._ "What, did you want to investigate it too?" She said dismissively.

"Of course!" Taiga said. "I have experience in these things, you know."

"...You do?"

"Yeah." The tiger responded. "Meteors fall around me all the time. Granted, it usually only happens when I'm alone, but I have gained experience in working with them."

"Oh, you too?" Saber asked. "I used to think it happened to everyone, but nobody seemed to have it happen to them, so I thought it was just me."

"Huh." Taiga said. "So I'm not the only one..." She began to consider that new information. "Anyway, while I respect the fact that you brought an experienced meteor handler, I am clearly older and more experienced with them, so you should have come to me first. Got it?"

While the two crazy people were sharing their experiences, Ryouko had managed to push herself up, and was sharing an equally confused and horrified look with Sakura. "Um... Sure." She agreed, eyes wide.

Taiga nodded, satisfied. "Good. Also, you aren't going to school today."

Ryouko immediately straightened. "What! Why?" She asked, shocked.

Sakura, by her side, gave a smile. "While it would be amusing to see everyone in the school worried about catching your illness, you're sick. You should be resting. Here. At home."

Ryouko's mouth opened for a retort, but then she closed it. "Okay, that is fair." She agreed finally. "It's not like there are multiple persons of interest at the school, in addition to a project I have in the words. Of course not. Why would you think that?"

Silence reigned for a moment.

"So..." Saber spoke up. "Breakfast?"

Sakura nodded. "We may have started without you, but we weren't that far into the meal." She looked apologetically at Ryouko, who waved off the concern.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

\==*==/

Ryouko was having issues.

She desperately needed to debrief Saber on literally everything that had happened last night, but couldn't, because even though she was sitting not five meters from her servant, she could not discuss those sensitive topics in the presence of the other two people at the table: Taiga, who was digging in happily, and Sakura, who was currently wiping a bit of soy sauce from Saber's mouth, exuding the much more "mom energy" than Ryouko'd seen from her in a while.

Ryouko shook her head, returning to her meal while trying to think of a solution. This was going to take some precise on-the-spot magecraft... except she was low on Od, and she didn't trust herself to draw on the Mana in the air while in her current state.

_So that's a bust._ She thought. _Now I need to get Saber alone without it seeming suspicious. How do I do that...?_ She skimmed through Saber's profile in her head, looking for something to spark inspiration. _Prana Burst, too overt. Journey of Flowers, basically useless. Riding... huh?_ That skill had something strange about it. It was apparently C-ranked, but in parentheses, it said that it was A-ranked as well. Further inspection revealed something even more strange. According to the information she received from the grail, it was conditionally A-rank when Saber was riding vehicles from the _modern_ era. Namely, cars and motorcycles.

Now, Ryouko was no history buff, but she was fairly certain that there were no cars in Camelot, let alone motorcycles. Something was extremely, obviously _wrong_ about this situation, but she had far too little information to make the slightest determination as to what, exactly. However, she was on a time crunch, so she really couldn't afford to get all worked up about the cause of that... abnormality. She had to use it while she still had a chance.

"Say, Lily-san." Ryouko spoke up, getting the attention of her servant.

"Yes?" Arturia answered.

"You said that you knew how to drive, right?" Ryouko asked rhetorically, winking twice at her.

Thankfully, Saber got the message. "Yes! That is a thing that I know how to do. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking that I should show you my motorcycle, so you know where to find it if necessary." Ryouko said.

"Uh... Sure." Saber replied. "That sounds like a good idea."

Ryouko got up with a little effort, barely managing to not stumble, before motioning for Saber to follow her to the shed, leaving Sakura and Taiga alone at the table.

"Well, that was just rude." The Tiger huffed, unaware of Sakura smiling sadly, her brows betraying an expression even more pained than her smile.

\==*==/

"Lancer figured out your identity!?" Ryouko said, shocked. "Already!?"

"Well, to be fair, it _is_ the Sword in the Stone." Saber excused. "Although Rider and Archer probably have also figured it out by now."

The two of them were on the ground floor of the shed, where Ryouko stored her motorcycle. She'd already given a five-second rundown of it and its capabilities, in order to complete the alibi. Now, all they were doing was reviewing their information, in order to make better plans going forward.

"Damn." Ryouko cursed. "So that leaves just Caster, Assassin, and Berserker who don't know who you are. Did you at least manage to get one of their identities?"

"I'm fairly certain Rider is the Gorgon." Arturia informed. "Other than that, though, no such luck."

"Oh yeah, Rider's 100% Medusa." Ryouko said. "Confirmed by the Servant herself."

"You talked to her?" Saber asked.

"Yeah. Apparently her Noble Phantasm lets her do that, and she didn't think I'd survive, so... hooray for being lucky." Ryouko took a breath, and then changed gears. "Anyway, our first priority is to devise an approach to Tohsaka Rin. You said she invited you to meet with her over lunch?"

"Er... yeah." Saber said. "She did, but I think she expected you to be there as well."

"Well, I can't really go to school in my current situation." Ryouko said. "So she'll just have to deal. What's your read on her?"

"Wouldn't you know more about her than me?" Saber asked. "You've at least known of her for much longer than I have."

"Nah," Ryouko waved off the theory, "I never interacted with her, not really. Besides, you've encountered her in the context of the War, while I've only heard of how she acts at school. People tend to act differently when in vastly different contexts, after all."

"...Okay." Saber readied herself to give a rundown on the Master. "She was... kind and caring, but also willful, decisive, and strong. I don't think I've really met a magus like her before. Both Merlin and you are... confusing. Maybe a little capricious. But her... she's amazing, elegant, and... stunning." By the end of her explanation, Arturia was looking off into the distance, a wistful expression on her face. If Ryouko didn't know better, she would've sworn there were stars in her servant's eyes.

Ryouko chuckled, an amused smile growing on her face. "So then you view her as a potential ally?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Saber snapped back to reality, blushing. "Erm... yes. That is my assessment."

"And what of her Servant?"

Arturia had to think more on that one. "I... really couldn't figure out anything about him, aside from getting the impression that he was... stern, I guess?"

"Hm..." Ryouko hummed, nodding. "Then I suppose that I approve of an alliance with her. Don't make any permanent commitments, but outside of that, I trust your judgement." Ryouko finished, then moved on. "Our next most pressing priority is to make sure your identity isn't unduly exposed. In order to do that, we need to find a way to disguise or outright hide your sword."

Saber took a long breath. "Do we have to? I feel like hiding my identity and stuff is... it feels like we're lying, y'know?"

Ryouko considered the question for a couple seconds, before coming up with a response. "Think of it this way." She said. "Our opponents don't show us the courtesy of revealing their identities, so until they do, we shall repay their discourtesy in full."

"But that isn't being chivalrous!" Saber complained. "The king must be the perfect knight, and I won't be the perfect knight if I act dishonorably. Besides, someone has to be the first to stand up for honor, or else the flame will die in the hearts of all those who revere it... Or something like that. Merlin was always better at explaining these things."

"You did plenty fine at explaining that." Ryouko consoled. "As for the matter of chivalry... well is it really dishonorable to use another sword?"

"Well, no."

"So all you have to do is use another sword and not mention that you normally use Caliburn, and everything should be fine!"

"That's literally just bending the rules in order to suit immediate needs." Saber pointed out. "It would still be dishonorable."

Ryouko bit her lip, trying to think of an applicable response. "Well..." She mused. "From another perspective, an objective of any battle in the grail war is to figure out your opponent's identity. Because of that, there is a contest over who can figure it out first. It isn't dishonorable to take part in such a contest, no?"

"I can see what you're saying." Saber considered her words. "Just as it would be dishonorable to seek an unfair advantage, it would be dishonorable to surrender in a battle without doing my best to win, so long as the battle is one with mutual consent and for a just cause." She looked Ryouko in the eyes. "I understand. So, how are we going to go about this?"

Ryouko grinned. "The easiest option is to get you a new sword, and I have a few stockpiled."

What followed was an extensive testing of numerous different swords, all with roughly the same amount of success-that is to say, most of them ended up exploding after full application of Saber's Prana Burst ability. The Blazing Sword, Wind Burst Sword, and Mass-Shifting Swords were all annihilated, alongside the Cauterizing Edge and even the Gun-Sword. However, some of them weren't destroyed, but were rejected for other reasons. Namely among those reasons was the fact that the Sword of Raging Winds, the Sword of Flame, and the Lightsaber all lacked real blades, making Saber rely far too much on her Instinct in order to judge the location of her blade and the required force behind each strike. In the end, only one sword remained.

"Are you sure you want me to test this?" Saber asked, looking at the sword in her hands. "I don't want to destroy yet another one." The sword in question was not made of steel or elemental energy, but rather Quartz Crystal, with a series of metal wires coiled on its insides.

Ryouko smiled. "I have a feeling that this one won't shatter. Try it."

"Okay..." Saber walked up to the testing area, and concentrated, still unsure of this. She let her prana flow into the blade at a slight trickle, feeling it build up slowly.

She breathed. In, out. In, and out. Centering herself in a guard stance, she increased the rate of flow, seeing as the blade did not burst.

Strange. As the prana built up in the weapon, it didn't explode, but it seemed to begin to glow. No matter.

When the energy reached its critical point, she swung the blade, expelling the prana contained within. Instead of leaving as a simple burst of prana, she heard a massive crack, even as lightning arced from the blade, striking the ground in front of her, turning the sand to glass where it struck.

Her eyes widened in awe as she gazed upon the sword. "Well... this should work."

"Yeah, it should." Ryouko agreed.

They stood in silence for a couple moments, before Saber remembered something. "Say, shouldn't I be getting to school by now?"

Ryouko's face took on a shocked expression. "Yeah. Probably." She said with wide eyes.

\==*==/

When they got back to the table, most of the rest of the food was gone, eaten by a certain ravenous tiger, who was also gone. Thankfully, Sakura was able to get some toast for Arturia, who ran to school as she ate it.

"Think she'll make it in time?" Sakura asked, closing the door and walking back inside.

"Probably." Ryouko answered, coming up astride her, before stopping in place. "...Say, shouldn't you be already at school?"

Sakura turned around and smiled teasingly. "I got the impression that if I left you unsupervised, things would probably start blowing up within the hour."

Ryouko blinked rapidly, then chuckled. "Well, you aren't wrong. Any idea what we could do to pass the time?"

Sakura put a finger on her chin. "We _could_ get out some board games. It'd be fun to play shogi with someone who won't inevitably win."

"Sure." Ryouko said as she shrugged, dismissing the possibility that Sakura's suggestion had anything to do with her late night encounter with Rider as they sat down to play.

\==*==*==/

Ryouko was bored.

"Checkmate." Sakura said, moving her rook in order to put Ryouko's king in check. A quick assessment revealed that if Ryouko moved the king at all, it would remain in check. "That's game 45 to me."

Ryouko nodded, then groaned melodramatically, lowering herself to the floor. "I'm bored." She complained, and proceeded to half-roll, half-tumble into the middle of the floor. Her Od had recovered almost completely, to the point that she could trust herself to be active and draw in Mana. But instead, she was playing games with Sakura over and over again, and that had gotten old after the 15th game.

Sakura watched Ryouko's antics, chuckling. "So it would seem. I was wondering how long it would take for you to admit it."

Ryouko pouted at the ceiling. "If you had realized it earlier, then why didn't you say so?" In response, Sakura got up, walked over, and sat down next to Ryouko.

"Because you need practice with actually noticing your own feelings." She said, gazing at Ryouko with a soft smile on her face. "Besides, you can't rely on others to notice what you're thinking. You have to make those feelings known."

Ryouko turned her head to look at Sakura, a slight heat rising to her face. "Well, you were able to notice what I was feeling, right?" She pointed out. "That's good enough for me."

"I'm not the only person you'll ever interact with, Ryouko-chan." Sakura said chidingly, her smile not fading from her face. "You still need to work on how you approach everyone else."

"But I don't care about 'everyone else,' so how I interact with them doesn't matter to me." Ryouko countered. "I only care about you."

And so it was Sakura's turn to blush. "W-what about Fujimura-sensei?" She said, stuttering. "Don't you care about her at all?"

"I mean, sure. Still, I wouldn't trust her to change her behavior significantly if I just told her how I feel. You are the only person I care about knowing how I feel." Ryouko reiterated matter-of-factly.

Sakura sighed, and lay down beside Ryouko, gazing at the incredibly uninteresting ceiling. "And what about being able to recognize how other people feel?" She asked.

Ryouko turned her gaze upwards as well. "Only you." She said softly. "Even if other people's feelings become actions that affect my life, I only really care about yours."

"I know." Sakura said, her voice carrying an emotion that Ryouko couldn't place.

A spark of sadness grew in Ryouko, who sighed uncomfortably. "If... you're saying that I'm not good at telling how you feel... Yeah, that's fair." She said in a downcast town, falling silent afterwards, thinking.

Sakura didn't respond.

Ryouko sat up suddenly, looking down at Sakura. "...But that's only because I haven't been putting enough effort into that aspect of our relationship, a fact I intend to remedy." She said resolutely. "To start, I just remembered that we haven't been out to eat together, and it's..." she glanced at the clock, "somewhat close to lunchtime." Ryouko grinned. "So, shall we?"

Sakura blinked in surprise. "Uh... s-sure. Where should we go?" She asked, sitting up.

"Um..." Ryouko faltered. "I... didn't think that far. Maybe we could look around town for a place to eat?"

"That should work." Sakura agreed. "We should probably change out of our uniforms, so we don't get recognized as students who are... skipping."

"Yeah." Ryouko agreed, getting up to go to her room. At that moment, the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Sakura said, standing up herself. "You go change."

"Okay." Ryouko said.

When Ryouko finished changing into her casual clothes - a white t-shirt under a black long coat with red lining - she walked back into the living room. "So, who was it?" She asked Sakura, who had been waiting for her.

"Oh, it was just my grandfather." Sakura smiled nonchalantly. "He wanted me to swing back to the manor and pick up some things I'd forgotten there."

Now, Ryouko could have brought up her concerns about Sakura's incredibly creepy grandfather, the fact that he knew far too much about Kiritsugu and the Einzberns, or the fact that if _Shinji_ was a Magus, then his grandfather must also be a Magus, or the fact that Zouken simply made her uneasy with his presence, but she didn't. Instead, Ryouko asked the only question that would be relevant to their situation.

"So, how does this affect our plans?"

"I thought that we could go out together, I could split off to get my things, and then rejoin you at the park. After that, we could go get lunch." Sakura said, giving a general overview.

Ryouko nodded, ignoring that tiny irrational voice that just wanted Sakura all to herself. "Sure, that works." She said.

And so, after Sakura had changed, and the two of them took a couple more minutes standing around awkwardly, the two socially inept teenagers left on their first outing as a maybe-not-quite couple.

\==*==/

Ryouko relaxed on the bench, enjoying the peace and quiet. On one level, she was thinking about absolutely nothing at all, but on another, she was reflecting on the entire situation she was in. If yesterday was a good example of how a night during the Grail War went, then she could tell she was going to be in for something... very brutal, tense, and stressful.

Raising her left hand to block out the sun, she gazed at the marks that had appeared there, resembling an arrow flanked by twin flames. Whatever they were, they seemed to be the mark of a master in this conflict. _...I wonder what the other masters are thinking?_ Ryouko considered, trying to place herself in the shoes of the other combatants. _They all have their own plans for this war... and their own wishes. I am unique among them, because I was thrust into this by circumstance, and not by choice. But, if I was in this in the same way they are... then I'd be proactive. I would search for the other Masters, and find a way to take them out. Everyone is ultimately acting for themselves, or at least their own desires, so I wouldn't be able to trust anyone. I would be acting swiftly and decisively, and if I encountered another master, I would eliminate them post-haste... Obviously, I'm not going to do that sort of thing if I can help it, but I'm going to have to step up my game either way._

_What should I do about Shinji? He has Medusa as his servant, so... I'll need anti-Gorgon countermeasures. Without any idea of how exactly her abilities work... I can still make basic suppositions about them, and work from there. _Pulling up the information manual in her mind's eye, she reviewed Medusa's profile. _...Oh, so she _was_ the one who set up that Bounded Field. Anyway... really, the only way to defeat that Sealing Noble Phantasm of hers is to double-team her. Or if I want to take out Shinji instead, triple team. So I will need Tohsaka-san on my side for that one. If Archer and Saber can occupy Rider, Tohsaka-san and I can engage Shinji and defeat him. That Magecraft of his seemed pretty weak, so we should be able to take him. After that... Well, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it._

Plan made, Ryouko shook her head. She was supposed to be _relaxing_, forgetting and ignoring the presence of the War while she spent a day with...

What _did_ she think about Sakura, anyway? Or more importantly, how did she feel? In her second family, she'd briefly experienced what having a sibling was like, and she would assess her relationship with Fuji-nee as one of that variety. But Sakura... Sakura was different, in a way Ryouko couldn't fully actualize. If a sibling was a friend born of circumstance, then Sakura was... a friend born of need? Or maybe of want? Ryouko didn't know. It was like she felt a... desire to get closer to Sakura, somehow closer than she already was. She wanted to connect and... just share everything, a desire that had certainly been brought to the surface by their most recent discussion. But how could she actually share how she felt if she didn't even know how she felt herself?

Ryouko bit her lip, stewing in emotions she was distinctly unfamiliar with, turning over the multifaceted aspects of their relationship over in her head. It was then, when she was stressing, the exact opposite of what she had set out to do, that she was approached by somebody she hadn't expected to see again, much less on... friendly terms.

"I'm glad you didn't die, Onee-chan." A familiar voice said from in front of the bench Ryouko was sitting on. Ryouko looked up, and saw the little girl she had encountered the night she entered the War. Considering that she knew Ryouko had probably almost died the previous day, there was no doubting the fact that she was involved in the war in some respects. Moreover, it lended credence to the theory that she was an Einzbern, as the Matou clan was undoubtedly involved in the war, and it would make... _some_ sense for two families involved in the conflict to know each other.

Ryouko composed herself, resigned to whatever madness would result from this encounter. "Hello, Oujo-chan." She said, giving a smile that was only slightly strained. "I'm glad you're alright too."

The girl climbed onto the bench beside Ryouko, and began to pout. "I'm not the one who just jumped in without thinking."

"Yeah, well... I tend to do that a lot." Ryouko chuckled sheepishly, then braced herself as she asked the most important question on her mind at the moment. "Say, I don't think we've actually introduced ourselves yet. I'm Ryouko, Emiya Ryouko. What's your name?"

"I am Illyasviel von Einzbern." The little girl said, puffing out her chest proudly. "But you can call me Illya!" She smiled at Ryouko, but the teenager's head had gone to a completely different place.

_Illyasviel..._ It was the name of the sister that she had, but never met, only heard about from her father, and even then, only once. But she had not forgotten, always remembering Illyasviel as a loved one that she failed to protect, despite having never met her... until now.

Ryouko's eyes began to water as she impulsively put her arms around a confused Illya. "I'm sorry." She said tearfully. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you." Immediately after doing that, a small part of Ryouko started to regret it, afraid of being pushed away by Illya, or the girl having no idea who she was, or really anything going wrong.

But just as quickly as those fears had sprung up, they were quenched as Illya shifted in her arms, and reciprocated the hug. "I know." She said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time, too."

Eventually, after they broke the embrace, Ryouko realized something. "Wait... you should be older than me..." She pointed out. "So... how?"

Illya's comforting smile faded ever-so-slightly, becoming more strained. "I am a homunculus." She said. "I wasn't designed to undergo puberty, so I didn't."

"Oh..." Ryouko echoed in understanding, then sighed. "So, I suppose you're here because of the Grail War?"

Illya shook her head. "No, I just came out here to see you!" She said cheerfully.

"Huh-"

"...Although that is the reason I'm in Fuyuki, yes." Illya finished, with a contemplative look on her face, causing Ryouko to raise a bemused eyebrow. "Anyway, enough of that! Tell me about yourself, Onee-chan."

"Wait, aren't I the younger one, at least existentially speaking?" Ryouko questioned.

"Well, yeah."

"So then shouldn't I be the one calling you 'Nee-chan?'"

"But then what would I call you?" Illya pouted.

"Presumably, 'Ryouko-chan,' or something similar."

Illya thought about that. "Very well! I shall address my younger sister as 'Ryouko-chan,' and she shall address me as 'Nee-chan.' The deal has been struck."

Ryouko giggled. "What even was _that _about?"

"It was a momentous occasion, so..." Illya trailed off, murmuring to herself. After a bit, she looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ryouko-chan. I have to go now. Can we meet up at the same place tomorrow?"

"Um... sure..." Ryouko hesitated. "Why do you need to go?" She asked, but Illya was already gone.

"Ah, Ryouko-chan!" Sakura, said, walking up. "It took a bit longer than expected, but I'm here now!"

Ryouko sat up, startled. "Oh, yeah." She said, still thinking about Illya, but she quickly composed herself. "Well, shall we find a place to eat out at?"

"I think I'd like that." Sakura said.

Ryouko began to stand up, but then she heard something strange.

"...Say, do you hear a squelching sound at all?" Ryouko asked.

"No, why?" Sakura responded, confused.

The sound faded.

"...Never mind." Ryouko said. "It's probably nothing."

\==*==*==/

When Ryouko thought about it, it was really no surprise that she had fallen asleep in the position that she was in. After all, she'd had a soft, warm "pillow," and had felt... distinctly tired, after her long day of human interaction. Still, she wished that she hadn't done so, especially in such a compromising position.

Not only was Taiga able to take a picture of her sleeping in Sakura's lap, but the teacher had also been somehow press-ganged into fixing the night's dinner. Ryouko blamed the fact that Sakura was too nice to disturb her while she was in that position, as well as Taiga's... meddlesome tendencies. Needless to say, when she woke up, it was to a rancid smell that not even _she_ would be able to make while cooking. Granted, her dad would have also been unable to make that sort of smell, just for entirely different reasons.

"I _still_ don't get why you let her do that!" Ryouko protested to Sakura for what had to be the fourth time. It was just the two of them sitting at the table: Saber had mentioned off-handedly that she was experienced with the sword, and Taiga had quickly challenged her to a duel, leaving Ryouko alone with Sakura.

Sakura smiled slightly. "I just didn't want to disturb you." There was a hint of... was that _playfulness_ in her voice!?

"Sure, but the fact that she did that disturbs me far more than being woken up from a nap would have!" Ryouko said.

Sakura shook her head. "But you were _so_ adorable. How could I pass up the chance to have that face immortalized in photography?" By now, her slight smile had grown to a full grin.

Ryouko squinted. "You're not usually this laid-back. Why the change?"

Sakura raised her eyebrow. "I need to take care of you all the time. Who knows how many things would explode if I left you completely unsupervised?"

Ryouko thought back to the previous day, considering its events, as well as her plans for the current night. "You... may have a point." She said, unconsciously brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "But seriously, why did you let Taiga take a picture of me in that... situation? I can't imagine that it was just because you thought I was cute."

"You _are_ cute." Sakura said, with not a single trace of doubt in her voice.

"...Oh." Ryouko averted her gaze, blushing at the statement. She felt... what was that feeling? Tumultuous, a current that set her off balance while drawing her towards her first and only friend. "Say, have you ever-"

The door was thrown open, and Taiga came barreling into the room. "We have an emergency!"

Ryouko whirled around, eyes widening as she prepared to jump up at the slightest threat. "What is it!?" She asked urgently.

"Lily-san's British, but she hasn't seen Monty Python!" Taiga exclaimed, while the Servant in question came walking up behind her.

"I must say that I'm curious." Arturia said. "It'd be interesting to see a modern adaptation of m-" She bit her lip. "King Arthur's life."

Ryouko took a few seconds to process that, forcibly turning around her mindset into one that would actually manage to function with the sudden shift in mood. Arriving upon a conclusion, she nodded sagely. "Indeed. That is an emergency of the highest proportions. What do you recommend, most honored teacher?" She said with an obvious affect in her tone.

"The only thing that _can_ be done in this situation." Taiga replied.

"Oh? And what is that?"

Taiga grinned. "A movie night."

"Of course." Ryouko then turned to Sakura, who was looking on with amusement. "Are our stores of popcorn sufficient to support this endeavor, Sakura-sama?"

"Once, I may have answered in the affirmative." Sakura said, joining in on the overly-formal speech. "However, given the appetites of our compatriots, I believe that it may not be possible. If they were to restrict themselves to a reasonable quantity, perhaps." The two of them looked at the far-luckier members of the household expectantly.

"I swear upon my honor!" Saber proclaimed resolutely.

"If such a thing is possible!" Taiga said in the exact same tone.

\==*==/

Naturally, it was Saber who ended up eating the vast majority of the popcorn, but everybody tactically decided against mentioning that. Even those who were unaware of her true nature believed that it would be better for her to have her sense of honor intact. The servant herself was rather baffled at a number of things, such as the time period and the rather... decrepit depiction of society at the time, but quickly gave up on caring about accuracy, accepting its nature as a parody.

Ryouko supposed that it was for the best. She hesitated to imagine what Saber would do if she thought the movie was supposed to be representative in any way - or worse, if she got _ideas_ from the film.

She shuddered in her seat at the thought of her servant pretending to ride a horse while she followed, banging coconuts together.

"What's the problem?" Saber asked from behind her. They were on Ryouko's motorcycle, heading to the meeting place Rin had arranged with Saber: they had numerous topics to actually discuss.

"Oh, nothing." Ryouko dismissed. "Or at least nothing relevant to this situation." She pulled up at the park that her fellow Master had chosen, parking and swiftly dismounting along with her servant.

\==*==/

Rin was waiting for Saber's Master, sitting on a bench, arms crossed. She'd known of Emiya Ryouko for some time now: mages tended to leave noticeable traces in areas they frequented, so Rin had been easily able to deduce the presence of another mage at Homurahara simply via the ambient mana. Beyond that, it was simply a matter of connecting that presence to a girl she'd investigated some time ago. It was her unofficial duty to make sure Sakura was friends with the right sort of people, after all, and Emiya had thusly required inspection.

...Not that she knew about that, of course. Rin had been sure to be discrete in her gathering of information. However, based on her results, she was sure that the girl probably wouldn't know even if Rin _was_ overt. Frequently oblivious to her surroundings and the social climate, Emiya was nonetheless looked upon with respect by her classmates, many of whom took the girl's disinterested demeanor towards anyone she didn't know as an "awareness of the importance of her time" or something like that. That fact, combined with her casual intellect, made Emiya largely unapproachable to many, which Rin would _normally_ have to do something about, but she seemed to have a good relationship with Sakura, and was a legitimately decent person, despite her... issues. So, Rin finished her vetting of Emiya.

"_So, this meeting..._" Archer said from her left, in spirit form. "_Why exactly are you holding it under these circumstances, here and now?_"

"Hm?" Rin was confused by the question. "Elaborate, Archer."

"_The fact of the matter is that, given Saber's explanation earlier today, there is no reason that you could not have negotiated this alliance with her Master tomorrow. Instead, you have chosen this hour to do so, and wasted precious time waiting when you could spend the time investigating these 'Gas Leaks.' So again, Rin, why here and now?_"

"That is true, of course." Rin conceded. "However, as the presence of Matou-kun's Boundary Field indicates, there are any number of things that can go wrong in that setting, given that it is a public location that we are known to frequent. It's best to not let hypotheticals come into play, and to not leave things like the success of this meeting up to chance."

"_In that case, why not go with Saber to her Master's house?_" Archer said, turning her logic against her. Still..

Rin grimaced. "Because that could potentially risk violating the agreement between the Tohsaka Clan and the Matou Clan."

"_And what-_" Archer began, but it was then that Rin heard the roar of a motorcycle's engine, accompanied by a relatively familiar pressure - the method she perceived magical energy - approaching. Archer most likely also sensed the presence of Saber.

Rin waited for the engine to quiet and for the pressure of Emiya's Magical Energy to indicate sufficient proximity, then began to speak.

"Ah, you're here. Now we can g- eh!?" Rin said, looking up, faltering when she noticed what exactly Saber's Master was wearing. Instead of anything reasonable like casual clothes, she was clad in what looked to be some sort of armor, consisting of white plastic armor plates fitted over a black mesh. Her face was covered by a completely smooth helmet made of the same material as the plates, giving no indication of anything resembling holes for seeing or breathing. What looked to be a bow was strapped to her back, while a strange metallic cylinder hung on her belt alongside numerous... were those grenades!?

"What?" Ryouko asked. "And why are you just wearing normal clothes, Tohsaka-senpai?"

"I don't think every mage has a full suit of armor, Master." Saber pointed out from beside Ryouko. "I'm pretty sure that's just you."

"Well, if they're participating in the Holy Grail _War_, they probably should, right?" Ryouko responded. "After all, it's extremely dangerous. I mean, I've gotten almost killed _twice_ in just as many days, partially because I hadn't been able to actually put on armor."

"You were fighting the _servants_." Saber pressed. "Most of the time, it is us who are going to fight against our fellow heroes."

"Past experience begs to differ!"

Just as Saber was about to formulate a retort, Archer materialized. "As much as I would like to listen to you two bicker, we have things to discuss." He looked to his own master. "If you would?"

Rin, having since regained her composure, cleared her throat. "Right. What I am ultimately proposing is that we do not fight each other until we are the last masters in the war, and collaborate on issues that concern the both of us. For example, the situation at the school."

Ryouko nodded. "I can agree with that. Although..." She tilted her head. Rin guessed that she had a contemplative expression on her face, but she really had no way of knowing.

"Yes?" Rin prompted.

"Why _are_ you proposing this alliance?"

Rin sighed. That was the _second_ time in not even ten minutes that a bow-wielding individual had questioned her about her plans. "Based on the discussions I have had with Arturia-chan, I can tell that I would rather have this war be decided between us, instead of between myself and another party. I can't imagine many will be... as moral as yourselves, nor would their servant have as many favorable traits as Arturia-chan here." She tactically refrained from mentioning that Sakura would prefer it if Ryouko had a higher chance of surviving.

Ryouko seemed to consider that, then nodded. "Fair enough. I assume you have something in mind?"

"Indeed." Rin said, standing. "You are aware of the 'gas leaks' that have been happening recently?"

"Um... Yes! Totally." Ryouko assured.

Rin raised an eyebrow, not convinced in the slightest. She continued anyway. "I have a hunch that they are not actually caused by any gas leaks, but are instead the work of a Servant, draining the Od of the city's inhabitants, with sometimes fatal consequences. In order to confirm that; however, I need to investigate the site when it's actually happening."

"An evildoer, I see." Saber observed. "We shall help bring them to justice!"

"About that.." Ryouko said, scratching the side of her helmet. "I actually have a thing I need to do around now. Saber could go with you, but I can't as of now."

Rin opened her mouth to respond, but Saber beat her to it. "Even though you almost died twice in just as many days?" She pointed out.

"That was because I was unarmored." Ryouko dismissed. "Haven't we already had this discussion?"

Rin cleared her throat. "I see no problem with this. After all, if you get in danger, you should be able to just summon Saber with a command spell, right?"

"A command spell?" Ryouko asked.

Rin rested her forehead on her fingers, sighed, then began to explain.

\==*==/

Ryouko pulled up at the school building on her motorcycle. It was a good thing that she'd gotten that lecture from Rin, otherwise she very well could have gone through the entire war without knowing what the red marks on the back of her hand actually were supposed to do. Still, Rin had decided that after they had taken care of their respective businesses, she would bring Ryouko to the Church for a more succinct explanation, and Ryouko had no idea what to make of that. She knew about the... tensions between the Holy Church and Mage's Association, of course, so maybe they had put aside their differences in the case of the Holy Grail War? She really had no way of knowing for sure either way.

But that didn't matter now, because she had a school to blow up! She dismounted, and walked to the center of the courtyard. Her water bucket explosives had gotten enough time to fully charge themselves, and it was thus time to detonate them!

She closed her eyes, and began gathering enough Magical Energy to activate her bombs, counting down until the optimal point. "In three... two... one..." Her eyes snapped open.

"_Ignition!_"

A long pause.

A longer pause.

An even longer one.

Ryouko cursed. Nothing was happening. "Did somebody disable those when I was away!?" She exclaimed to the empty air.

\==*==/

Rin sneezed, throwing off the aim of her Gandr shot, giving the skeleton enough time to close the distance, only to be slain by an arrow from Archer.

...It _was_ cold outside, after all. Maybe she should wear something warmer? She shrugged, and continued firing.

\==*==*==/

Well, her previous plan was a bust, but that didn't mean Ryouko was going to give up. Far from it. Every day that people went to Homurahara with those sigils up was a heightened chance of her loved ones having their life-force completely drained, and she could not allow that to happen.

So now, it was less a question of if she would wait, and more one of how she would enact her planned destruction. She sat cross-legged in the middle of the courtyard, contemplating that question, searching for an answer. Then, something Rin had said earlier came to mind.

"...Gas Leaks, huh?"

\==*==/

Rin watched as Saber swung that new sword of hers towards a group of skeleton warriors. The blade didn't make contact, but the electricity did, arcing outwards and annihilating them.

...Why couldn't she have been the one to summon Saber!? If she was with the golden-haired servant herself, then she would have the Holy Grail War as good as won! Ryouko had given Saber a quartz sword, even though Jewel Magecraft was _her_ thing. If it was Rin who had made that, then nobody could stand up to their combined might.

Yet, for some reason, it was not meant to be. Instead, she had summoned that _infuriating_ Archer!

Rin sighed. He was the card she had been dealt, so she needed to make the best use of him that she could. And besides, he wasn't _that_ bad. She turned away from Saber to face the group of skeletons that she was suppressing. She could try to fight them up-close, but she didn't fancy getting skeleton gunk on her. So that left Gandr. She fired a volley of Finn shots at the undead, watching as the bolts of red-black energy tore through their rib cages. She smiled. If nothing else, this was cathartic.

\==*==/

Ryouko knew what she needed to do. It was honestly kinda embarrassing that she hadn't gone with this method yesterday, but she simply hadn't had the idea back then. If she could make it look like a gas leak had happened in the school, then she could not only have the incident be significantly more plausible, but also lend even more credibility to what was apparently the cover story for Od being drained from the city's inhabitants...

_Who's in charge of that, anyway?_ Ryouko thought. _...Eh, I'll ask the Church's representative._

She had bigger fish to fry, anyway. First, she established a pair of boundary fields around the school, one to prevent gas transfer across the boundary, and the other to mix the gasses _within_ the boundary until they were distributed evenly. Next, she established a third boundary field, a significantly smaller one, with the simple purpose of producing a small flame when the ratio of methane to oxygen in the air was the optimal ratio - two moles of oxygen for every mole of methane.

Ryouko then went around the outside of the school, using a bit of earth magecraft to seal the areas at which the predicted explosion would be able to escape, aside from the exit closest to the boiler room. Finally, she opened a couple of the gas lines in the school, and bolted out the exit she had left open, sealing it behind her. She turned around, took down the redundant sealing boundary field, and waited.

And waited.

And waited...

Ryouko sighed. _Has something gone wrong agai-_

_WHOOSH!_

A fireball bloomed throughout the school, expanding and incinerating anything it could. In an instant, it blossomed past the points at which it could be contained, and burst free, fire pushing its way out into the open air.

"...Never mind then." Ryouko said, thinking aloud. "Well, I guess my work here is done." She took down her boundary fields, and hopped onto her motorcycle, following the stream of magical energy that linked her to her servant.

\==*==/

Rin opened the map of Fuyuki on the table, doing her best to ignore the purple fog that covered the floor. Archer, Saber, and she had hopefully cleared the skeletal warriors out of the building, and so she could assess the situation without interference. It was dark, so she pulled a sapphire out of her pocket and, with a short incantation in german, it began to glow with a soft light. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than no lighting at all. With that, she accessed the records of Fuyuki's leylines from her crest, and began to examine the situation.

...It was as she had thought. The building they were in was sitting on top of a leyline. Of course, given Fuyuki's unique situation, that was not exactly conclusive, but it would help her narrow down where this mage had their base, or at least the location from which they were draining the Od of civilians.

Because Fuyuki had three leylines that didn't all intersect at the same point, while simultaneously not being parallel, there were three points at which the lines intersected. She could discount the Tohsaka Manor by the fact that it wasn't on this leyline, and the more significant fact that she _owned_ it, which left the Fuyuki Fire Memorial Park and Mount Enzou. The Park was unlikely, but it still had a strong spiritual presence regardless.

She closed her eyes, and focused on her magical energy senses, the pressure differentials unfolding in her mind's eye. She let the waves of energy wash over her, determining their direction... There. She took a compass out of her pocket, and found the corresponding direction on the map.

So it _was_ Mount Enzou, as expected. It was prime territory, after all, and it wouldn't be remiss to surmise that the servant located there was a Caster... but she had no real way of knowing for sure at that point in time. Besides, she had bigger issues, such as making sure her ally was caught up to speed regarding the war.

Just as she thought that, she felt a sharp pain in her command seals, and heard the distant roar of a motorcycle. _Well, it's most likely her._ She thought. _Let's get going_.

\==*==/

After her servant had gotten on the back of Ryouko's motorcycle, she turned to her fellow master.

"So, how are you going to get around, Tohsaka-senpai?" Ryouko asked Rin.

Rin smiled. "I have my ways."

"What she _means_ is that she's going to use me as her personal taxi service." Archer grumbled, materializing.

Ryouko blinked under her mask. "...What?"

"Archer has kindly volunteered to carry me around the city, as my Servant." Rin said, without an ounce of regret in her voice.

"That brings up more questions than it answers." Ryouko said. "Why is he carrying you around? How in the world is it efficient? How do you manage to do it without being spotted?"

"We could see if it would be efficient if _I_ carried you around, Ryouko." Saber said.

Ryouko sputtered. "W-what? Why!? That poses the same issues!"

Rin smiled. "It's because we're, or rather _he_ is jumping between buildings. We take the high road."

Ryouko was temporarily speechless. "...Can you do that?" She asked her servant.

Saber looked contemplative. "Perhaps I could, but I do not think it would be a very knightley course of action."

"Why not!?"

"It's windy, and somebody might look up at just the wrong moment."

"Oh come on, you're wearing armor under there!"

Saber crossed her arms. "It's the principle of it. Also, now that I think about it, Sakura would probably be mad at me. And you, for that matter."

"When did _she_ get brought into this!?"

"Obviously, she wouldn't want me to carry you around."

"How is that relevant!?"

"You two _are_ together, right?"

Ryouko inhaled sharply in surprise, glad nobody could see the blush rising to her face. "Um... I, we..." Her thoughts were in a jumble: she couldn't properly understand the information conveyed by the question: she had never considered things in that context. Thankfully, she received a distraction, in the form of Tohsaka Rin, whose expression had since shifted from smugness to exasperation.

"So... Archer and I will be leaving now. Feel free to argue amongst yourselves or whatever." She said, and Archer picked her up, before jumping up onto a rooftop. Ryouko shook herself out of the stupor.

"Fine. You take the high road, and I take the low road." She revved up her motorcycle. "And I'll reach Scotland before you."

So, they began driving towards the church in Shinto, hoping to beat their counterparts in a race only they were running.

\==*==/

As it turned out, those who took the high road reached the temple the most quickly, despite Ryouko's best efforts. Oddly enough, it was difficult to outpace a servant on a motorcycle while obeying traffic laws to at least _some_ extent. Thankfully, it seemed that Rin had decided to stop and wait at the gates for them to get there.

As Ryouko was parking, she felt a sharp pain in her command seals, which apparently signified another master who was not concealing its magical traces. Ryouko and Saber began to approach their fellow master/servant pair, but Rin held up a hand, motioning them to stop beside her.

"Another master?" Ryouko asked.

"Yes." Rin confirmed. "Thankfully, the Church is neutral ground, so we don't need to worry about any attacks. At the same time, however, entering at this point could signify hostile intent, and we do not know the capabilities of this enemy."

Ryouko nodded seriously, and waited alongside Rin. Eventually, from the church, there emerged a man with disheveled blond hair and who wore a lab coat. His face was kind, with a western cast to it, and marred by a grave expression. Beside him, there walked a girl in some sort of black and red body armor, carrying a cross-shaped shield. Her short hair was black, her eyes were red, and at her waist there rested a sword in its scabbard, with a similar color scheme. Overall, they made an interesting pair, to say the least.

The two parties stared at each other for what felt like minutes, and Ryouko's heart was beating wildly. She wasn't scared of conflict, far from it, but this situation was far more tense than any others she had experienced in the short time since she began to fight in the war. There was the matter of which servant this was, too. She knew of Rider, Lancer, Saber, and Archer, which left Caster, Berserker, and Assassin, all of which were unlikely for their own reasons. Still, given the servant's mode of dress, Ryouko tentatively placed her under the "Berserker" category.

Eventually, the group leaving the church turned slightly and wordlessly passed them by.

After the potential danger had passed, Ryouko let out a long sigh of relief, before rallying her flippancy.

"Well, that was a thing that happened!" She noted, glancing nervously at the other people in the group. Rin and Archer were stone-faced, as expected, yet Saber... was staring at the Servant, who was still walking away. "Do you know her?" Ryouko asked, curious.

"No..." Saber said contemplatively. "Yet... she felt familiar to me somehow, especially that Shield."

_That same answer._ Ryouko thought bitterly. _First, Dad's name, and now this! What is going on with her anyway?_ ...She smiled thinly. _Well, no matter for now. I'll need to figure it out later._

"Well, anyhow, shall we go?" Ryouko asked.

Rin nodded. "Yes, let's. Archer, you perform overwatch."

Archer nodded, dematerializing.

They walked through the gates and pushed open the front entrance. The priest of the church turned around from the altar, shutting a book. He was tall, an effect only accentuated by his large cassock, with moderately long brown hair and a creepily satisfied expression on his face.

"Ah, the Master of Saber." The Priest said. "I, Kotomine Kirei, humbly welcome you as the seven- no... _Eighth_ Master in the Holy Grail War."

Ryouko blinked.

"How are there _eight_ masters in the Holy Grail War!?" She exclaimed.

Kirei's smile remained as he returned to his full height. "Why is it so surprising?" He asked. "On what knowledge do you base the assumption that a war must have seven masters, instead of six, eight, or even fourteen?"

Ryouko crossed her arms. "Information given to me by Saber, who should have received it directly from the Grail. How can there be eight masters if there are seven servants?"

"Didn't you notice?" Rin said. "There are eight servants. That was a Shielder we saw."

_How did she... Right. The information _Masters_ are provided by the Grail._ Ryouko mentally slapped herself, and focused, opening the journal visible only in her mind's eye.

...It was true. That Servant _was_ a Shielder, with not only the Endurance one would expect from her class, but Strength and Agility on par with Saber. _That... may be a problem._ She thought, before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Okay, there are eight servants, but _why_ are there eight servants?" She said.

"I would like to know that as well." Rin corroborated, leaning against a pew.

Kirei sighed heavily, beginning to pace around the church. "Did you not understand my earlier point? There is no specific reason for there to be any specific number of masters or servants. The grail may decide to give more people a chance to claim it, or fewer people a chance. There is nothing strange about it."

Ryouko stared at the man, agawk. "...Okay, that's bullshit, and you know it."

"Oh?" He smiled. "And what makes you say that?"

"I..." Shit. She didn't have any actual evidence, did she? "My bullshit detector."

"Bullshit detector?" Was that a chuckle she heard?

"Yes, my bullshit detector. It's a mystic code I possess, which is capable of detecting when people are just pulling things out of their ass."

"And I imagine that such a device would need to be constructed with heaps of the substance it is designed to detect, yes?"

Ryouko's eye twitched. "How come you can call me out on my bullshit, while I can't?"

"It helps when you are actually telling the truth." Kirei informed. "All pretenses aside, while this is certainly an irregularity, it is most definitely not the only one. This is a very irregular war, you see."

"How so?"

"Take your servant, for example." He then addressed Saber. "Arturia Pendragon, yes?"

Saber's eyes widened. "How did you..."

"I aided Rin's father in the last war, in which you were summoned." His gaze began to make Saber shift uncomfortably. "Yet you were not in this form, were you? Instead of the King of Knights, the Once and Future King who will one day return to rule over England, you are the Knight-Princess, the yet-imperfect king who has yet to become worthy of the throne."

"So what?" Ryouko interjected. "I don't see how that's necessarily an irregularity. We used the same catalyst to summon her, my father and I."

Kirei grinned wider at that statement, but Ryouko could not tell why. "Can you enter spiritual form, Saber?"

Now, instead of being uncomfortable, Arturia was simply confused. "No...?"

"And that was a characteristic of the last Saber, due to her... unique circumstances, which were specific to the 'her' in that form."

"Your point being?" Ryouko said.

"Your servant should not be in her form as the Knight-Princess, yet somehow, she is. In other words, you could say that she is pretending to be the person she is now, but I doubt she is fully aware of it. This is an irregularity, to say the least. To my knowledge, there is not one servant in this Holy Grail War whose circumstances are normal, whether that is the result of their summoning itself or events following their summoning."

Ryouko nodded slowly, more than a little confused. "I... see. So, in other words, there are so many things that are strange about this Holy Grail War that the most sane response to more strange things is to simply shrug and accept it?"

"In essence, yes." Kirei affirmed. "You have been given a chance to claim the Holy Grail, which caught the blood of Christ when he was pierced with the spear of Longinus, and in claiming the holy reliquary, have your heart's deepest desire fulfilled. It would be folly to pass that chance up, as Emiya Kiritsugu once did."

Ryouko's eyes narrowed under her helmet. "More stuff from the previous War?"

"Indeed." Kirei said. "Your father had the chance to achieve his wish, yet chose instead to reject the Grail and its blessings. To this day, I have no idea why he chose to do so..." The priest trailed off, looking reminiscent. Ryouko cleared her throat to bring him back to reality.

"Anyway, I had other questions." She said.

What followed was a question-and-answer session that took around half an hour, with Ryouko asking about topics ranging from the identities of the people responsible for concealing the more dramatic effects of the Grail War - primarily Kirei himself - to the possibility of there being a way to surreptitiously contact one's own Servant, which there actually was. Ryouko just hadn't figured out how to do telepathy before due to having absolutely no expectations of it actually being a thing. Overall, it was actually very productive, at least by Ryouko's standards.

"In that situation, you would still probably want to bring them to me." Kirei said, after a rather lengthy series of questions about where the best place to take people injured by the War in increasingly absurd fashions. "Honestly, I have no idea how you would go about _recovering_ someone from a fifty-ton avalanche of burrowing snakes, much less how that would happen in the first place, but that would be the best course of action that I could advise you on."

"Okay, fair enough." Ryouko nodded, satisfied.

"Any more questions?" Kirei prompted, his voice taking on a slight exhausted edge.

Ryouko considered her answer to that for a couple seconds, before finally deciding on one.

"Have I managed to annoy you yet?"

Kirei's eye twitched, but otherwise, he kept a straight face. "Not at all." He lied. "After all, I would be a rather poor priest if I failed to bring clarity to lost lambs seeking guidance."

Ryouko nodded, and looked at her wrist as if to check the time, despite there not being a watch there. "Okay, I've got time. So, how many-"

"However," Kirei interrupted, "I do believe your companions are getting tired of this, so perhaps it would be best if you left."

"But of course!" Ryouko agreed, grinning madly under her helmet. She turned to Rin and Saber, who were at this point seated at a far-off pew, having a conversation of their own. "Shall we?" She called.

Rin shrugged, and the pair got up to leave.

\==*==/

"By the by, are you okay?" Ryouko said to Arturia, who was once again sitting in the back of the motorcycle. Sure, she could probably drive it better than Ryouko could, but it was _her_ car, damnit! She was going to be the one to pilot it.

"What!?" Arturia shouted over the roar of the street and the engines.

"I SAID," Ryouko shouted, "ARE YOU OKAY!?"

"I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Saber responded.

Ryouko cursed. This wasn't working for her. Then she remembered that telepathy could be performed via the connection between a Master and Servant. "_Are you okay?_" Ryouko sent telepathically, hopeful that she managed to make it work.

"_Um... yeah. Why?_" Saber responded in a confused voice.

_Huh. Telepathic communication can convey emotion. Good to know. _Ryouko noted absentmindedly, before answering her servant. "_You seemed... shaken, by what that priest said about you._"

"_Oh... that._" Saber sent. "_It's... troubling, yet in a way, it's also... fulfilling._"

"_How so?_"

"_On one hand, I feel like this is something that I should... know about, yet I don't. And... if I really _am_ the King of Knights... Why would she choose to be me? Would she not be the best person for this task, as she would be me after I have managed to become a perfect king? That's the troubling part. As for the fulfilling part..._" Saber paused to search for the correct words. "_At least I know that I am, in some way or another, close to perfection. If I manage to reattain that, then perhaps I'll understand what my wish really is, and then we'll be able to claim the Holy Grail._"

Ryouko bit her lip. That was... quite an issue, to say the least. She needed to think of something to do about all of this. After all, it was the role of a Master to support their Servant, right? Granted, it wasn't actually "support" in that sense, but that was good enough for Ryouko.

"_Well..._" Ryouko trailed off. "_Are you sure that you want to be perfect? I can't really provide much insight, but... well, if I performed all of my experiments absolutely perfectly, achieving the exact same result as perfect contemporary scientific knowledge, then that'd get boring quickly. It is when things don't work perfectly that you're able to learn new and exciting things._"

"_But what about now?_" Saber countered. "_If I'm not as perfect as I can be, then there will be people who end up dying, because I couldn't achieve my ideal self. What about them?_"

"..._I'm not sure._" Ryouko admitted. Mental silence reigned for the rest of the ride.

\==*==/

Ryouko exhaled heavily as she collapsed onto her futon. Today, she had managed to take some of the most important steps to making sure that nobody she cared about would be hurt by the Grail War, and, aside from the potential of collateral damage, she was reasonably certain that they would be safe from Shinji and Medusa, as well as whoever else might be striking at the school.

...Except Illya wasn't a student, was she? Ryouko really had no idea how to deal with... that whole situation. She didn't know the slightest thing about her older sister's circumstances, only that she was an Einzbern, had the body of a preteen for some reason... oh, and that she was in Fuyuki because of the Holy Grail War. Did that mean she was a Master? Or was she simply there to observe? Was there another Einzbern Master that Illya was an accessory to in some way?

She supposed that the only way to get those questions answered was to meet Illya again. Why _had_ she left, anyway? Was it something to do with Sakura?

As the topic of the purple-haired girl arose in Ryouko's mind, she found herself quickly consumed by thoughts of Sakura. She wasn't sure what Sakura thought of her, exactly, but that was secondary to not knowing what _she_ thought about Sakura, at least in that instance. Earlier that night, Saber had... assumed that the two of them were together, in context that obviously implied that it was in the romantic sense.

...Did she love Sakura? As a friend and practically a sister, sure, but romantically? Well, Ryouko had never had any experience with romance in the first place, much less with romantic feelings, so there was no real experience there for her to draw upon. Taiga didn't count. She was family, but Ryouko wouldn't trust her farther than she could throw her... when not using Magecraft, obviously. Faced with an unsolvable problem, Ryouko did the only thing she could do in her situation: construct mental models of various situations and then examine her thoughts on each. Or, in other words, fantasizing.

That night, Ryouko fell asleep with her fingers lightly touching her lips.

* * *

AN: This isn't dead! Merely sleeping. In light of this delay, I am, in the future, going to deviate from my previous format (writing chapters, and then compiling them into mega-chapters once all the ones for a given day are finished) and am instead going to post chapters as I write them, without compiling them.


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